A synthetic hydroxy acid that shows tubular-shaped structure in solid-state and ionophoric activity in phospholipid bilayers

In this contribution, we describe the ability of compound (+/-)-1b and six molecules of water to form in solid-state hexameric aggregates, which self- assemble to give hollow tubular structures. Single crystal X-ray analysis s hows that these tubes are open-ended, with irregular shape and internal van der Weals pore diameter between 6 and 9 Angstrom. In addition, transmembra ne sodium transport activity was also assessed for (+/-)-1b using dynamic N a+-NMR technique.