Abstract
In the last five years, there has been increasing interest in the development of dendritic architectures which model specific aspects of biological function. This Concepts article describes how the shapes and structures of dendrimers with their three distinct environments (core, branched shell, and external surface) have been elegantly utilized to replicate or modulate processes known from biological systems. We describe how the dendritic shell can produce localized microenvironments analogous to those found at the active sites of enzymes, and we evaluate the progress made in the development of dendrimers for recognition and catalysis. Examples of controlled energy transfer through dendritic branches and of the construction of large supramolecular systems by self-assembly of dendritic subunits are presented. In particular, the article focuses on those dendrimers for which it has been clearly established that the branching plays an essential role in the creation and modulation of function.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1353-1361 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Chemistry - A European Journal |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| Publication status | Published - Aug 1998 |
Keywords
- catalysis
- dendrimers
- energy transfer
- molecular recognition
- self-assembly
- ENCAPSULATED ELECTROACTIVE MOLECULES
- POLYNUCLEAR METAL-COMPLEXES
- DENDRITIC MACROMOLECULES
- SUPRAMOLECULAR CHEMISTRY
- CHIRAL DENDRIMERS
- ENANTIOSELECTIVE CATALYSIS
- PHOTOSYNTHETIC BACTERIA
- ANTENNA SUPERMOLECULES
- CASCADE MACROMOLECULES
- FIRST-GENERATION