STRUCTURE AND BIOMEMBRANE MIMETIC BEHAVIOR OF THE WATER-OCTANOL INTERFACE

A widely used screen to test the propensity of molecules to absorb into living tissue is the water−octanol emulsification test. The determination of the contribution of interfacial adsorption to bioavailability has been elusive using this standard assay. In this report, a novel technique of measuring molecular bioavailability is introduced. This technique employs laser light to probe molecular adsorption to the biomembrane mimetic water−octanol interface. It is shown that adsorption to the membrane plays a critical role in the process delivering molecules, such as pharmaceuticals, to tissue cells. Additionally, it has been possible to determine for the first time experimentally the structure of the water−octanol interface.