Chiral Recognition in Biomembrane Models: What is behind a 'Simple Model'

The investigation of chiral recognition in micelles and liposomes used as biomembrane models relies, in principle, on physicochemical tools, Such as circular dichroism, NMR spectroscopy, and theoretical calculations. However, the need for proper model aggregates and suitable markers of chirality has prompted us to face some organic synthesis exercises with problems that synthetic chemists usually find with much more complex syntheses. Our synthetic efforts were compensated by the results we got in the successive physicochemical investigations.