A facile synthesis of bifunctional phospholipids for biomimetic membrane engineering

We report a facile synthesis of bifunctional phospholipid conjugates by acylation of N-protected lyso-phosphatidylethanolamine with 12-acryloxy-1-dodecanoic acid and followed with deprotection and conjugation with biotin, FITC, Texas Red, or EMC groups. The lipid conjugates can be used to generate a multifunctional substrate-supported phospholipid membrane via bioconjugation reaction to biotin or covalent attachment to EMC at their hydrophilic terminus. In addition, conjugation to fluorophores, FITC or Texas Red, provides a convenient mechanism to monitor lipid membrane formation and stability. Significantly, in situ photopolymerization of the acrylate group at the end of one of two hydrophobic alkyl chains stabilizes the phospholipid membrane.