Aggregation properties of oligo(methacrylic acid)-shelled dendrimer and its microenvironment in aqueous solutions

A third-generation poly(amido amine) dendrimer having poly(methacrylic acid) segments on the periphery (G3-PMAA) was newly synthesized. A xanthate-modified dendrimer (G3-X) was first prepared by condensation of the terminal amino groups of the poly(amido amine) dendrimer with an activated-ester xanthate. G3-PMAA was then synthesized by polymerization of methacrylic acid initiated with G3-X. The number-average degree of polymerization of PMAA segment was estimated to be 10. The pK_a value for G3-PMAA was evaluated to be 7.3 that is somewhat higher than that (6.8) of the corresponding linear PMAA with the same segment length, indicating the interaction of PMAA segments caused by assembling them at the dendrimer surface. When the diameter of G3-PMAA in aqueous solution at various pHs was measured by a dynamic light scattering, G3-PMAA was found to self-aggregate in a pH region, where the PMAA segment took a hydrophobic, compact coil conformation. Subsequently, the interaction of a fluorescent probe (1-anilino-8-naphthalenesulfonic acid ammonium salt (ANS)) with G3-PMAA was examined by means of fluorescence spectroscopy. As a result, ANS was found to bind to the hydrophobic site of G3-PMAA aggregates at lower pH, and to be released into water phase at higher pH.