142 Advances in Polymer Science Editorial Board: A. Abe. A.-C ...

Dendrimers and Dendrimer-Polymer Hybrids
Jacques Roovers 1 , Bogdan Comanita
Institute for Chemical Process and Environmental Technology, National Research Council,
Ottawa, Ontario CANADA, K1A 0R6; 1 e-mail: jacques.roovers@nrc.ca
Abstract. The synthesis and study of dendrimers has been truly dramatic in the last ten
years. This review gives a brief introduction to some of the key concepts and main synthetic
strategies in dendrimer chemistry. The focus of the chapter is a survey of modern analytical
techniques and physical characterization of dendrimers. Results of model calculations and
experiments probing the dimensions and conformation of dendrimers are reviewed. In the
final sections the experimental work on dendrimer-polymer hybrids is highlighted. The
dense spherical conformation of dendrimers has been combined with the loose randomcoil
conformation of ordinary polymers to form new hybrids with potentially interesting
new properties.
Keywords. Dendrimer, Dendrimer-polymer hybrid, Conformation, Branched polymers
List of Abbreviations and Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
1.1 Dendritic Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
1.2 Synthetic Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
2 Analysis of Dendrimers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
2.1 NMR Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
2.2 Mass Spectrometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
2.3 Size Exclusion Chromatography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
3 Conformation of Dendrimers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
3.1 Theoretical Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
3.2 Experimental Dimensions of Dendrimers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
3.2.1 Radius of Gyration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
3.2.2 Hydrodynamic Radii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
3.2.3 Effect of Solvent on Dendrimer Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
4 Dendrimer-Polymer Hybrids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
4.1 Polymeric Dendrimers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
4.2 Dendrimers on Polymers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Advances in Polymer Science, Vol.142
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1999