Mixed monolayers made of steroid thiol molecules lying flat on the
surface and thin octadecanethiol
walls have been prepared on gold by subsequent chemisorption and
self-assembly procedures. Cyclovoltammetry of ferricyanide in bulk water showed 30% of the peak
current observed for naked gold electrodes.
1,2-trans-Cyclohexanediol interrupted ferricyanide
penetration into the steroid membrane gaps almost
quantitatively; its 1,2-cis diastereomer, on the other hand,
had practically no blocking effect. Glucose,
galactose, and mannose were also efficient blockers for ion penetration
into the hydrophobic gaps. Infrared
spectroscopy, quartz balance, radioactivity, impedance, and contact
angle measurements on the monolayers
and its physisorbed entrapments were used to characterize the membrane
system and the unique
physisorption process
of the highly water-soluble compounds
in hydrophobic
gaps. A model based on
the
fitting of polyols with a cyclohexane skeleton and equatorial OH-groups
into icelike water clusters and
the slowdown of diffusion processes in such rigid and shielded clusters
is proposed.