Linkers multifunctional linker advantages

Perfectly branched dendrimers have potentially better properties for applications in the field of biomedicine than hyperbranched polymers due to their well-defined and predictable structure and narrow mass distribution, which is important for in vitro and in vivo applications. However, hyperbranched polymers have one very significant advantage, which is their easier preparation by a one-step synthesis. Therefore, hyperbranched polymers are also used in technical applications, for example, as additives, blends, or coating components and as multifunctional cross-linkers. But both, dendrimers and hyperbranched polymers, have been extensively studied in the fields of encapsulation and delivery of drugs, dyes, and genes because of their original branched architecture (Fig. 5.15). Small molecules of interest can be incorporated in the interior cavities of dendritic molecules or bound to their outer functional groups. 

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