ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews a number of the approaches being used to stabilize micro-structures formed from polymerizable phospholipids, the properties of the lipids, structures formed from such polymerizable lipids, and the potential technological applications of these approaches. It elucidates the various possibilities for monomer placement in lipid molecules, which will be followed on the properties of microstructures derived from polymerizable phospholipids. Polymerizable moieties and their placement in the lipid molecule are likely to influence the physical properties of the vesicles or other microstructures formed from the polymerizable lipids. The polymerizable moieties incorporated in the phospholipids are vinyl, methacrylate, diacetylene, styryl, acetylene, and dienoyl. There are two other classes of compounds that have also been used for achieving the cross-linking in the vesicles; the sulfhydryl and disulfides in the acyl region and the substituted amino acids in the head group region of the phospholipids. The chapter concludes with a description of the technological applications of these lipids.
