The Role of Noncovalent Interactions in the Efficiency of Dendrimers in Catalysis

Abstract

Dendrimers are nanometric macromolecules constituted of repetitive branched units, radially arranged around a central core. They are synthesized step-by-step, generally using a divergent process from this core. Dendrimers have many properties, and among them, catalysis is a major field. Two main domains are studied, on one side the search for the positive "dendrimer effect", i.e. an increase of the catalytic efficiency when the size of the dendrimer increases, and on the other side the encapsulation of catalytically active nanoparticles inside dendrimers. In both cases, non-covalent interactions are involved. This chapter displays the important role played by non-covalent interactions on the properties of dendrimers in catalysis. A first part will concern the dendrimer effect, then a short part will display non-covalently formed catalytic dendrimers, and the last part will concern dendrimers encapsulating catalytic nanoparticles.