Dendrimers with terminal functional groups

Dendrimers with terminal functional groups represent mode compact precursors that are spherical and almost monodisperse, with reactive groups placed on their periphery. Their synthesis, structure and properties have been reviewed in monographs and review articles often together with hyperbranched polymers (cf., e.g. [15-20]), as well as in this book. Application of dendrimers as precursors for conventional materials is limited at this time by their relatively high cost. 

The only revision of the model which has been incorporated here is the formal description of the functional group concentration in the polymer rich phases. In our work with the dendrimer, nominally containing 128 terminal functional groups, we calculated the total ligand concentration within the polymer phase 1 to be... 

As noted above, the polymers in solution are assumed to be monodisperse spheres with their attendant functional groups randomly distributed therein. While the fifth generation PAMAM dendrimers used in this study have been shown to be quite spherical, the spatial distribution of (terminal) functional groups is less certain[17]. 

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