Recent trends in bilayer formation of synthetic amphiphiles

The property of synthetic dialkyl amphiphiles to form vesicular structures can be exploited in a variety of situations, such as mimicking biological membranes, drug delivery, studies related to artificial photosynthesis, aggregates on solids, etc. The stability and thermotropic behavior of liposomes from natural lipids could be improved by synthetically modifying the alkyl chains of the lipids or by using totally synthetic structures. This article, which highlights the important milestones in the development of vesicular structures from synthetic amphiphiles, encompasses a brief description of investigations reporting the introduction of totally synthetic dialkyl amphiphiles, mixtures of monoalkyl cationic and anionic amphiphiles, hyperextended alkyl amphiphiles, and so on. Furthermore, most of the relevant work in the last decade relating to bilayer formation from synthetic amphiphiles is documented here.