Phase transitions of highly asymmetric chain-length N-lignocerylsphingomyelin (C24:0-SM) bilayer

d-erythro (2S, 3R) sphingomyelin (C24:0-SM) whose acyl chain was 24 carbons long was synthesized by the acylation of d-erythro-sphingosylphosphorylcholine. Reversible and reproducible transitions of the SM was attained for the first time by thermal annealing adopted for its dispersion at a temperature of the main gel-to-liquid crystal transition up to periods as long as 5 h. This fact indicated that the main transition of the SM involved another...