G. Brezesinski et al., INFLUENCE OF ETHER LINKAGES ON THE STRUCTURE OF DOUBLE-CHAIN PHOSPHOLIPID MONOLAYERS, Chemistry and physics of lipids, 76(2), 1995, pp. 145-157
The structure of phosphatidylcholine monolayers has been studied by Sy
nchrotron X-ray diffraction at the air/water interface varying the est
er and ether linkages of the aliphatic tails at the glycerol backbone.
All systems investigated exhibit an oblique lattice structure with ex
tremely large tilt angles of the chains from vertical, even at high la
teral pressures. Although no large difference is seen in the isotherms
, the replacement of ester by ether linkages causes a reduction of the
tilt angle and of the area per molecule. These changes also depend on
the position of the ether group with respect to the glycerol backbone
and can be understood within a model where the carbonyl group of the
ester at the C2 position pulls the attached chain towards the water su
bphase.