The porous vesicles reported so far have hydrophilic surfaces. If the surfaces are chemically modified to be compatible with common organic solvents, their application will be extended. 1,2-Bis[9-(4vinylbenzyloxycarbonyl)nonanoyl]-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (BNPC) was synthesized and used as a polymerizable surfactant for the present study. Vesicles composed of BNPC and cholesterol with embedded divinylbenzene were polymerized, followed by skeletonization (removal of cholesterol) and hydrolysis (cleavage of the ester bonds in BNPC unit). The resulting vesicles (250 nm) whose surfaces contain hydroxyl groups appeared to have holes with diameters up to several tens of nanometers. They were dispersed in water, methanol, tetrahydrofuran, and chloroform. The turbidity of the dispersions decreased as follows: water > methanol > tetrahydrofuran > chloroform. The dispersion in water remained turbid with some precipitates during storage, but those in methanol and tetrahydrofuran appeared to be clear with white precipitates. On the other hand, the transparent vesicle dispersion in chloroform did not form precipitates.
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