PERMEABILITY OF THE N-ALKYL PARA-AMINOBENZOATE ESTERS ACROSS THE ISOLATED CORNEAL MEMBRANE OF THE RABBIT

The permeabilities of the rabbit corneal membrane to an homologous series of compounds (the n-alkyl p-aminobenzoate esters) have been determined by an in vitro technique, and a parabolic relationship between corneal membrane permeability and structure (n-alkyl chain length) is reported. This observation is interpreted as resulting from a change-over in the rate-limiting mass transfer step in the transport process, and it is described that the corneal membrane must be treated as a complex membrane, rather than a homogeneous membrane, to resolve the observed permeability behavior. © 1979.