Synthetic strategy of dendrimers: A review

Dendrimer chemistry is a fascinating and growing area of modern chemistry. Dendrimers are macromolecular entities with unique three-dimensional topologies, multi-functionality, and unique chemical and physical properties. Because of these characteristics, they are particularly well suited for applications in nanotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and medicinal chemistry. The study of dendrimers and hyperbranched polymers is gaining widespread interest from researchers in academia and industry for their unique structure and properties. This review article focused on dendrimer structure and the different synthetic strategies employed at the laboratory and commercial levels. This review covers convergent and divergent approaches, as well as accelerated approaches to dendrimer synthesis.     

Solid-phase dendrimer synthesis: a promising approach to transform dendrimer construction

Dendrimers, by virtue of their unique well-defined dendritic structure and multivalent cooperativity, hold great promise for a wide variety of applications, ranging from healthcare to energy production and environmental sustainability. However, dendrimer synthesis suffers from two inherent problems which greatly handicap their development and limit their application: the formation of structural defects caused by incomplete or side reactions, and difficulties associated with purification. Solid-phase synthesis may overcome both these problems, firstly by enabling complete chemical reactions through the use of a large excess of reagents, secondly by facilitating purification through simple washing and filtering steps. The end result is the speeded up reactions producing the desired product in high yield, with simultaneous suppression of by-products. In this review, we present the challenges and current state of research in solid-phase dendrimer synthesis, and provide our perspectives on its future development. We start with a short introduction to solid-phase synthesis and specific considerations for dendrimer construction. We then present exemplary studies to highlight the potential of, and challenges faced by, solid-phase dendrimer synthesis. Finally, we describe efforts to deliver more effective and reliable methods that will transform the synthesis of dendrimers and permit exploitation of their full potential.     

Where organometallics and dendrimers merge: the incorporation of organometallic species into dendritic molecules

This review will describe the ongoing efforts being made to incorporate organometallic fragments into the framework of dendrimers. While purely dendritic organic molecules are well known and well studied, species incorporating organometallic moieties potentially offer many benefits that are not available to only organic containing dendrimers. For example, catalytic or redox active organometallic functions can be included in the dendritic framework and impart these characteristics onto the dendrimer. This report will give an overview of the latest developments in this field by highlighting selected examples that detail novel synthetic strategies or dendrimer construction methodologies, interesting practical applications or address specific problems associated with organometallic dendrimers.     

树状大分子在有机合成中的应用

近20年来树状大分子由于其特殊的结构而引起了科学家们的广泛关注;作为一类新型的高负载量载体应用于有机合成和催化是树状大分子重要的应用领域之一。本文主要介绍树状大分子和树脂固载树状大分子两类载体,重点对它们作为高负载量载体在有机合成和非均相催化反应中的应用研究进行了总结。     

树状大分子在有机合成中的应用

近20年来树状大分子由于其特殊的结构而引起了科学家们的广泛关注;作为一类新型的高负载量载体应用于有机合成和催化是树状大分子重要的应用领域之一。本文主要介绍树状大分子和树脂固载树状大分子两类载体,重点对它们作为高负载量载体在有机合成和非均相催化反应中的应用研究进行了总结。     

Fluoride‐Promoted Esterification with Imidazolide‐Activated Compounds: A Modular and Sustainable Approach to Dendrimers

Based on the growing demand for facile and sustainable synthetic methods to structurally perfect polymers, we herein describe a significant improvement of esterification reactions capitalizing on 1,1′‐carbonyldiimidazole (CDI). Cesium fluoride was shown to be an essential catalyst for these reactions to reach completion. This approach was successfully applied to the synthesis of structurally flawless and highly functional polyester dendrimers employing traditional and accelerated growth strategies. A sixth generation bis‐MPA dendrimer with a molecular weight of 22.080 Da and 192 peripheral hydroxy groups was isolated in less than one day of total reaction time. Large quantities of dendrimerswere obtained in high yields (>90 %) using simple purification steps under sustainable conditions. The fluoride‐promoted esterification (FPE) via imidazolide‐activated compounds is wide in scope and constitutes a potentially new approach toward functional polymers and other materials.     

POSS基树枝状大分子的合成与应用

树枝状大分子(dendrimer)是一种高度支化、纳米尺度的人工合成大分子,具有独特的物理化学性能和重要的应用前景。利用具有8个可官能化顶点的多面体低聚倍半硅氧烷(POSS)作为树枝状大分子的核心,可在一定程度上简化树枝状大分子繁琐的合成与分离过程,在低代数时就可获得较大的表面官能团密度,并使树枝状分子呈现球形对称结构。POSS基树枝状大分子结合了POSS和树枝状分子结构与性能的优势,是一类极具潜力的有机-无机纳米杂化材料。本文综述了近年来POSS基树枝状大分子的最新研究成果,介绍了具有代表性的POSS基树枝状大分子的合成方法以及它们在催化剂、生物材料、液晶材料和发光材料等领域的应用研究进展,并对该新型材料的发展趋势做了展望。     

Functionalizing the interior of dendrimers: Synthetic challenges and applications

Chemists' fascination with dendrimers mainly originates from their unique architecture and its exploitation for the design of well‐defined functional macromolecules. Depending on the nature of the synthesis, functionalization is traditionally introduced at the core, the periphery, or both. However, the specific incorporation of functional groups at the interior layers, i.e., generations, represents a considerable synthetic hurdle that must be overcome for the full potential of dendrimers to be realized. This review covers recent advances in this emerging frontier of dendrimer science with a particular focus on covalent modifications. Monomer design, syntheses, and properties of various dendritic backbone types are discussed. Internal functionalization dramatically increases the degree of complexity that can be implemented into a dendrimer macromolecule and, therefore, promises to lead to smart materials for future applications in bio‐ and nanotechnologies. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 1047–1058, 2003     

Dendritic polymers: from efficient catalysis to drug delivery

Dendritic polymers constitute an intriguing class of macromolecules that offer tremendous potential in designing new materaisl for applications in areas such as catalysis and small molecule loading and delivery. Synthesis of a variety of dendritic polymers using a simple and highly versatile synthetic methodology has enabled us to carry out a detailed investigation of dendritic effects in transition metal catalyzed organic transformations. Small dye molecules such as p-nitroaninline and DR1 could be loaded into the intrinsic cavities of the backbone of 3,5-dihydroxybenzyl alcohol based dendrimers, leading to a change in physical properties of both the dye and the dendrimer. We are also exploring the use of dendrimers as templates to prepare network carriers containing cavities of predetermined size and disposition.     

多肽树枝状大分子合成的研究进展

多肽树枝状大分子具有不同于链状多肽和其它树枝状大分子的物理化学性质,在化学、生物、医学等领域中有广泛应用。本文综述了近年来所报道的多肽树枝状大分子的合成进展。     

Dendritic Molecular Electrochromic Batteries Based on Redox‐Robust Metallocenes

In this Concept article, we summarize and discuss recent reports on dendritic molecular electrochromic batteries. Giant dendrimers containing 3ⁿ⁺² terminal tethers (n=generation number) and terminated by first‐raw late‐transition‐metal metallocenes, permethyl metallocenes and other sandwich complexes were shown to be redox robust. Indeed, they can be oxidized and reduced without decomposition and exist under two stable oxidation states (Fe^III/II, Co^III/II). Thus, a pre‐determined number of electrons (up to 14 000) per dendrimer can be exchanged. Cyclic voltammetry showed a remarkable complete reversibility even up to 14 000 Fe and Co termini in metallodendrimers, indicating fast electron hoping among the redox sites and between dendrimers on a carbon surface covered by arylcarboxylate groups. The dendrimer sizes were measured by dynamic light scattering in solution and by AFM (subsequent to flattening in the condensed state also indicating that these metallodendrimers aggregate to form discrete nanoparticles of dendrimers, as atoms do). The metallodendrimer size varies considerably between the two redox forms due to tether extension of the cationic dendrimers upon oxidation, and a breathing mechanism was shown by atomic and electric force microscopy (AFM and EFM). When the redox potential is very negative, the reduced form is an electron‐reservoir system that can deliver a large number of electrons per dendrimer to various reducible substrates. These systems are thus potential dendritic molecular batteries with two different colors for the two redox forms (electrochromic behavior).     

Syntheses of dendritic branches based on L-lysine: is the stereochemistry preserved throughout the synthesis?

This paper reports the syntheses of individual dendritic branches based on L-lysine and functionalised with either Boc or Bz surface groups. Convergent and divergent synthetic approaches were employed and the preservation of stereochemistry during the syntheses was monitored using polarmetry, NMR and HPLC. In addition, racemic dendritic branches based on D,L-lysine were synthesised for comparative purposes. It was observed that the preservation of stereochemistry in the dendritic peptide was dependent on the method of synthesis, with divergent methodology being preferred. The results are discussed in terms of the known stereochemical outcomes of traditional peptide coupling processes, and are generalised to the synthesis of other dendritic peptides. Such observations about the chirality of dendritic peptides are of relevance to chemists developing dendritic systems for applications where single enantiomer dendrimers would clearly be preferred, such as enantioselective catalysis or pharmaceutical chemistry.     

Femtosecond excitation energy transport in triarylamine dendrimers

The search for a model that can be used to describe the optical excitation migration in dendrimers has attracted great attention. In most cases in a dendrimer the conjugation is disrupted at the branching point; however, the excitation is delocalized. The strength of interactions among neighboring chromophores plays a key role in determining the energy migration mechanism. Conversely, having many identical chromophores held tightly together in an ordered macromolecular architecture will allow for many dipoles to be accessible for optical excitation. Therefore, the relative orientation of dipoles will be important in determining the mechanism of energy migration. Here we report the synthesis and photo-physical investigation of triarylamine-based dendrimers. Two important synthetic steps were utilized in the synthesis. First, we employed diphenylmethyl protective groups on the amines to assist in deprotective hydrogenolysis of the larger structures. Second, highly active catalysts for formation of both di- and triarylamines that are based on a 1:1 ratio of P(t-Bu)3 and Pd(dba)2 improved reaction yields of the C-N bond formation and decreased reaction times The energy migration processes in the dendrimers were investigated utilizing ultrafast time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy measurements. The fluorescence anisotropy of all three dendrimers decayed to a residual value within approximately 100 fs. This fluorescence anisotropy decay showed a general trend in decreasing with increasing dendrimer generation. The residual anisotropy value also showed a gradual decrease with an increase in the dendrimer generation. This fast energy depolarization is discussed through a coherent excitonic mechanism among dipoles oriented in different directions. We believe that the formation of coherent domains leads to fast energy migration extending over a large part of the dendrimer.     

ACCELERATED APPROACH TO THE SYNTHESIS OF METHOXYCARBONYL-TERMINATED POLYETHER DENDRIMERS

Dendrimers are macromolecules that radiate out from a central core, with the number of branch points on a given arm increasing exponentially from the core to the periphery.¹ Because of their novel properties, dendrimers have found many uses, including as unimolecular micelles, novel amphiphiles, and complexation agents.² These and other applications will benefit from more efficient methods of dendrimer preparation. The synthesis of dendrimer can be divided into both the divergent approach developed by Tomalia³ and Newkome,⁴ and the convergent method of Frechet.⁵ The convergent method was adopted in the synthesis of our target methoxycarbonyl-terminated polyether dendrimers. This method has the advantage over the divergent one in that the number of reaction in each step is restricted to a fixed small number irrespective of dendrimer generation, therefore completion of the reaction in each step can be controlled and monitored and large excess of reagent is not required even in the preparation of higher generation dendrimers.     

结合丝组二肽的树状多肽对λDNA的切割

以Fmoc手工固相合成法合成了以多聚赖氨酸为骨架, 表面结合丝组二肽的四分支和二分支树状多肽, 以高效液相色谱提纯, 电喷雾电离质谱表征, 并通过凝胶电泳法研究了其对λDNA的切割活性.     

A Review of Surface Functionalized Amine Terminated Dendrimers for Application in Biological and Molecular Sensing

Dendrimers are three dimensional nanosized synthetic molecules that have internal cavities and numerous surface groups. In recent times they have received increased attention in sensing applications. For dendrimers to be used as sensors, they most commonly require functionalization at their surface. This is because the surface is generally the first point of contact between the dendrimer and the outside world, hence surface functionalization serves to selectively home in on the target analyte. Further, sensor signals may be transmitted through surface functionalities e.g. fluorochromic molecules. It is therefore important to document surface functionalization approaches. Dendrimers with amine surface groups have the advantage of being able to be conjugated to other molecules via an amide linkage, which is one of the most fundamental and widespread chemical bonds in nature. In this paper we demonstrate the properties of dendrimers that make them so applicable to sensing. We review several methods for functionalizing dendrimers via an amide linkage, as well as present a review of surface functionalized polyamidoamine, polyamine, and polypeptide dendrimers that have been employed for biological, chemical and molecular sensing.     

Synthesis of Cyclic Core Dendritic Polymer and Its Usage as a Vector for Transferring Foreign DNA into Human Cells

DendriticpoIymer(ordendrimer)isanewkindofsyntheticpolymer.Dendrimershaveuniquecharactersandsurfaceproperties,thustheyhaveattractedmoreandmoreattCntionofchemistsinrecentyears""'.Dendrimersseemtobepotentiallyusefulmaterialsinpharmacologyandbiology,andtheuseofdendrimerasvectorsforgenetransferisanewattemPt4"".IncomParisonwithotherclassicalpolymersandoligomers,dendrimershavesomeuniquecharactersincludingmonodispersedandsphericalstructurewithregulardendriticbranching.Avarietyofbiologicallyactivemat…     

Efficient synthesis of porphyrin-containing,benzoquinone-terminated,rigid polyphenylene dendrimers

A series of rigid polyphenylene, free-base porphyrin-containing dendrimers terminated with either dimethoxybenzene or benzoquinone end-groups were prepared by a combined divergent and convergent synthesis. Unlike previous routes for preparing polyphenylene dendrimers that are incompatible with end-groups bearing certain functional moieties, the synthetic methodology chosen for this work enables incorporation of functional groups on the dendrimer end-groups during preparation of the dendrimer wedges and during synthesis of the final dendrimer. The basic strategy utilized a convergent preparation of dendrimer wedges using Suzuki coupling conditions, which were then either attached to a porphyrin core in a divergent coupling step or cyclized to form the porphyrin dendrimer in a convergent step. The latter approach was found to be more general and resulted in higher yields and more readily separated products. Steady-state absorption measurements for these dendrimers showed Soret and Q-band absorptions typical of free-base porphyrins. Preliminary steady-state fluorescence measurements of these dendrimers indicate quenching of the S1 state of the free-base porphyrin in all benzoquinone-containing dendrimers that is attributed to efficient electron-transfer from the excited porphyrin to the benzoquinone end-groups. The amount of fluorescence quenching was in good agreement with the number of benzoquinone groups at the dendrimer periphery and the distance between the porphyrin and benzoquinone groups as calculated by semiempirical (AM1) molecular orbital calculations.     

Amphiphilic and mesomorphic fullerene-based dendrimers

Growing attention is currently devoted to large dendritic structures for applications in nanotechnology and materials science. In this respect, the incorporation of such compounds into thin ordered films appears to be an important issue. One of the most widely pursued approaches to structurally ordered dendrimer assemblies has been the preparation of Langmuir films at the air-water interface. We report on the case of a diblock globular fullerene-based dendrimer and show that peripheral substitution of the dendrimer with hydrophobic chains on one hemisphere and hydrophilic groups on the other provides the required hydrophobic/hydrophilic balance allowing the formation of stable Langmuir films. A second approach has been to consider the case of fullerene containing dendrimers terminated by mesogenic groups such as cyanobiphenyl subunits. Whatever the generation is, up to the fourth one, all these compounds exhibit a well-defined liquid crystalline smectic A phase. The molecular organisation within the smectic layers is found to be monolayered or bilayered depending on the generation. For the smallest dendrimers, the organisation is mainly governed by the size of the fullerene moiety, whereas for the higher ones, it is governed by the interactions between the terminal mesogenic groups. These two approaches appear particularly interesting for functional groups such as fullerenes, which are not well adapted to be organised in nanoscale architectures. The present study shows that fullerenes can indeed be introduced into different types of ordered structure when they have been chemically adequately modified.     

Starburst pamam dendrimers: Synthetic approaches,surface modifications,and biomedical applications

Dendrimers are having novel three dimensional, synthetic hyperbranched, nano-polymeric structure. Among all of the dendrimers, Poly-amidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer are used enormously applying materials in supramolecular chemistry. This review described the structure, characteristic, synthesis, toxicity, and surface modification of PAMAM dendrimer. Various strategies in supramolecular chemistry of PAMAM for synthesizing it at commercial and laboratory scales along with their limitations and applications has also discussed. When compared to other nano polymers, the characteristics of supramolecular PAMAM dendrimers in nanopolymer science has shown significant achievement in transporting drugs for molecular targeted therapy, particularly in host–guest reaction. It also finds its applications in gene transfer devices and imaging of biological systems with minimum cytotoxicity. From that viewpoint, this review has elaborated the structural and safety aspect of PAMAM for targeted drug delivery with pharmaceuticals in addition to the biomedical application.