Neoglycolipids composed of disaccharide glycoside and phospholipid were designed and prepared as mimetics of lactosylceramide. The lactosyl- and N-acetyllactosaminyl-phospholipids (Lac-DPPA and LacNAc-DPPA) were enzymatically synthesized from lactose and LacNAc respectively by cellulase-mediated condensation with 1,6-hexanediol, followed by conjugation of the resulting glycosides and dipalmitoylphosphatidyl choline (DPPC) mediated by Streptomyces phospholipase D. Alternatively, allyl beta-lactoside was ozonolyzed to give an aldehyde, which was condensed with dipalmytoyl phosphatidyl ethanolamine to afford a second type of glycolipid (Lac-DPPE). NMR spectroscopy indicated that the neoglycolipids behave differently in different solvent systems. X-ray diffraction clearly showed that multilamellar vesicles (MLVs) of Lac-DPPE and Lac-DPPA-MLV are in the bilayer gel phase at 20 degrees C, whereas those of Lac-DPPE-MLV were in the lamellar liquid-crystalline phase at 50 degrees C. Differential scanning calorimetry showed that Lac-DPPE-MLV had complex thermotropic behavior depending on the incubation conditions. After a long incubation at 10 degrees C, endothermic transitions are observed at 39.6, 42.3 degrees C, and 42.9 degrees C. These neoglycolipids have the ability to trap calcein, a chelating derivative of fluorescein, in MLVs and showed specific binding to lectin in plate assays using fluorescently labeled compounds.