Dendrimers: a review of their appeal and applications

Abstract

Dendrimer chemistry is one of the most fascinating and rapidly expanding areas of modern chemistry. This review attempts to uncover the appeal of these structurally-perfect branched macromolecules. The three intriguing regions of a dendritic molecule are discussed: the multifunctional surface, the tailored sanctuary within the branches, and the encapsulated core. The advantages of dendritic structures for property modi®cation, and their potential applications in very diverse areas are illustrated. The exciting merger of dendrimer chemistry with self-assembly offers new, stimulating avenues for exploration. Consequently, self-assembling dendrimers comprise a major section of this article.

New methodologies in the construction of dendritic materials

“…Traditional syntheses involve repetitive stepwise growth and deprotection/ activation protocols with careful purification procedures between each generation. 6 Typically, 4th generation dendrimers require a minimum of 8 reaction steps, not including the monomer synthesis, making them very time consuming and generating significant waste. Today, dendrimers are synthesized utilizing either divergent or convergent growth, Scheme 1.…”

“…4,5 The presence of a highly branched structure gives these polymers unique properties and it is foreseen that they will find use in specialized applications, for example; targeted drug-delivery, macromolecular carriers, enzyme-like catalysis, sensors, light harvesting, surface engineering and biomimetic applications. 2,4,6 Presently, there are over 10 000 scientific reports and 1000 patents dealing with dendritic structures. Still, complex polymer structures, including dendritic materials, have struggled to be commercialized on a large scale by industry.…”

Influence of dendrimers on red blood cells

“…Terminal groups plays an important role [8]. The development of molecular nanostructures with well-defined particle size and shape is of eminent interest in biomedical applications.…”

Mechanisms of Light Energy Harvesting in Dendrimers and Hyperbranched Polymers

“…A key aim has been, and remains, the accomplishment of similar levels of efficiency in synthetically less demanding materials, achieved by emulating the photobiological principles of photon capture [4][5][6][7][8]. In the whole field of molecular science, multi-chromophore dendrimers represent the single type of material that has most significantly fulfilled this promise [4,5,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. Typically, these materials are built in a quasi-fractal geometry from chemically similar, strongly absorbing chromophores organized around a core that acts as an energy trap [10,18].…”