Synthesis and applications of intramolecularly cross-linked dendrimers as organic nanoparticles

ORGN 396

Steven C. Zimmerman, sczimmer@uiuc.edu, Department of Chemistry, Roger Adams Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 600 South Mathews Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801
This talk will describe how dendrimers, highly branched polymers with multiple end-groups may be extensively cross-linked using the ring-closing metathesis reaction. The size and rigidity of the resulting nanoparticles can be controlled with a fair degree of precision. The shell cross-linking can serve several purposes. It may chemically protect core functionality (site isolation) or physically entrap cores that can be cleaved from the cross-linked dendritic framework. Furthermore, an organic template embedded inside the dendrimer may be removed post-cross-linking and the resultant “hollow” macromolecule may retain a molecular memory of the template. Various applications of this chemistry will be discussed.