Globular shape, large dendrimers

Several reviews cover dendrimer syntheses and applications [94], but very few describe glycodendrimers as such [16,52,82,95,96]. Dendrimers can basically adopt two shapes spherical, globular-like structmes (58) and monodendritic (59-61) architectures (Scheme 11). The last family is particularly appealing because it can mimic complex multiantennary glycans foimd at the tips of natmal glycoproteins. Moreover, from cumulative observations, spherical dendrimers, particularly large ones (i.e., >16-32-mer) have started to show their intrinsic structmal limitations that is, they suffer from severe steric accessibility. This situation is fmther amplified by the presence of complete bacterial and viral particles wherein the receptors are themselves clustered and congested. Alternatively, they have shown excellent inhibitory properties with soluble or surface-boimd lectins and antibodies. 

Interest in dendrimers is predicated in large part on the belief that size, shape, and composition matter. Dendrimers are synthetic polymers that— theoretically—are perfectly branched from a common core, giving rise to descriptions of two-dimensional representations that include tree-like or snowflake-like . As the products of synthesis, the size and composition of a dendrimer can be manipulated by choice of the starting materials. Commonly, triazines can reach protein-sized dimensions with an onset of globular structure. Larger triazine dendrimers that can reach the dimensions of small viruses have been reported. The literature is replete with examples of small dendrimers that can be viewed as floppy, randomly coiled oligomers. 

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