Dendrimer Removal

Similar to the TGA experiments, in situ Infrared Spectroscopy has been used to follow the amide bond stretching frequencies while heating under various atmospheres. ° These experiments (see Fig. 7.2) suggest that dendrimer removal requires relatively forcing conditions to maximize CO adsorption on supported Pt catalysts prepared from A variety of activation conditions have been... 

We are developing a new method for preparing heterogeneous catalysts utilizing polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers to template metal nanoparticles. (1) In this study, generation 4 PAMAM dendrimers were used to template Pt or Au Dendrimer Encapsulated Nanoparticles (DENs) in solution. For Au nanoparticles prepared by this route, particle sizes and distributions are particularly small and narrow, with average sizes of 1.3 + 0.3 nm.(2) For Pt DENs, particle sizes were around 2 nm.(3) The DENs were deposited onto silica and Degussa P-25 titania, and conditions for dendrimer removal were examined. 

These results were interpreted in terms of a substantial surface enrichment in Cu, driven by Cu s lower heat of sublimation [23]. The reactivity of these catalysts for CO oxidation, and the clear spectroscopic evidence for surface Pt - CO species indicate that, at least for the heterogeneous systems, particle surface stoichiometries are very sensitive to metal-adsorbate interactions. Similar arguments were presented for the PtAu/silica system, in which monometallic Au particles severely sinter under dendrimer removal conditions. In this case, the retention of small bimetallic particles after activation was attributed to the strength of Pt-silica interactions, which effectively anchored the bimetallic nanoparticles to the support [24],... 

The cavities in dendrimers are not permanent, but can be redistrubuted as the branches, which can possess considerable degrees of flexibility, move about. The inclusion of guest molecules within a dendrimer may occur as a result of movements in the branches, which allow temporary inclusion of the guest molecule within the dendrimer structure. In solution, it is assumed that molecules of solvent are able to move with ease through the branches of dendrimers, hopping between such temporary cavities with little or no hindrance. When the solvent is removed, the dendrimer may collapse to a distinctly reduced volume. 

One example has used a manganese porphyrin and iodobenzene encapsulated within a dendrimer to bring about shape-selective epox-idation of alkenes. The important aspect of catalysts is that the reactants can move rapidly to the active site, and that the products can be removed rapidly from the active site and expelled from the dendrimer. 

Newly synthesized PAMAM dendrimers have a defined size and shape and can be used in gene transfer experiments, but the efficiency of transfection can be greatly increased by a process called activation of the dendrimer. In activation, some of the tertiary amines are removed, resulting in a molecule with a higher... 

PAMAM dendrimers are synthesized in a multistep process. Starting from a multifunctional amine (for example ammonia, ethylenediamine, or tris(2-amino-ethyl)amine) repeated Michael addition of methylacrylate and reaction of the product with ethylenediamine leads to dendrimers of different generation numbers [1,9]. Two methylacrylate monomers are added to each bifunctional ethylenediamine generating a branch at each cycle. Unreacted ethylenediamine has to be completely removed at each step to prevent the initiation of additional dendrimers of lower generation number. Excess methylacrylate has also to be removed. Bridging between two branches of the same or of two different dendrimers by ethylenediamine can also be a problem, and has to be avoided by choosing appropriate reaction conditions. 

Figure 19 explains what in principle happens the cluster monolayer on the dendrimer film is mobilized by means of CH2CI2 vapour (a b). The phosphines are then removed by the SH functions (b->c). The bare AU55 nanoclusters move between the dendrimer molecules to form crystals (Auss) which finally appear on the surface (c d). The formation of crystalline superlattices of naked AU55 particles proves their stability which is founded in their perfect cuboctahedral shape. The (Auss) species is a novel modification of the element gold. 

Dendrimer-protected colloids are capable of adsorbing carbon monoxide while suspended in solution, but upon removal from solution and support on a high surface area metal oxide, CO adsorption was nil presumably due to the collapse of the dendrimer [25]. It is proposed that a similar phenomena occurs on PVP-protected Pt colloids because removal of solvent molecules from the void space in between polymer chains most likely causes them to collapse on each other. Titration of the exposed surface area of colloid solution PVP-protected platinum nanoparticles demonstrated 50% of the total metal surface area was available for reaction, and this exposed area was present as... 

Supported, intact DENs do not bind CO and are not active catalysts. Presumably, in the absence of solvent, the dendrimer collapses onto the nanoparticles preventing even small substrates from accessing the metal surface (11,12). This means that the organic dendrimer must be removed in order to prepare active catalysts. 

Since mild activation conditions appear to be important, a number of solution activation conditions were tested. PAMAM dendrimers are comprised of amide bonds, so the favorable conditions for refro-Michael addition reactions, (low pH, high temperature and the presence of water) may be able to cleave these bonds. Table 1 shows a series of reaction tests using various acid/solvent combinations to activate the dendrimer amide bonds. Characterization of the solution-activated catalysts with Atomic Absorption spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy and FTIR spectroscopy of adsorbed CO indicated that the solution activation generally resulted in Pt loss. Appropriate choice of solvent and acid, particularly EtOH/HOAc, minimized the leaching. FTIR spectra of these samples indicate that a substantial portion of the dendrimer amide bonds was removed by solution activation (note the small y-axis value in Figure 4 relative... 

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