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Lipophilic vs Amphipathic - What's the difference?

lipophilic | amphipathic |

As adjectives the difference between lipophilic and amphipathic

is that lipophilic is having the quality of dissolving in lipids while amphipathic is describing a molecule, such as a detergent, which has both hydrophobic and hydrophilic groups.

lipophilic

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Having the quality of dissolving in lipids
  • Typically have the quality of being composed of mostly nonpolar bonds

    • Antonyms

    * hydrophilic

    amphipathic

    English

    (wikipedia amphipathic)

    Adjective

    (-)
  • (chemistry) describing a molecule, such as a detergent, which has both hydrophobic and hydrophilic groups.
  • (biochemistry) often refers to the surface(s) on a protein, particularly an alpha helix, where one surface of the alpha helix has hydrophilic amino acids and the opposite face has hydrophobic (or lipophilic) amino acids.

    • See also

    * amphiprotic * amphoteric * surfactant