Development and Application of Dendrimer Disassembly

亚利桑那大学的Dominic McGrath的研究将致力于进一步设计、开发和实施最近在他的实验室开发的树枝状大分子可控降解技术，该奖项为有机和高分子化学项目提供支持。树枝状大分子的解离依赖于单个触发事件来启动整个树枝状结构中的多个裂解，从而导致单个树状大分子亚单位或更大的树枝状大分子片段的释放。这一过程的潜力在于树枝状大分子作为活性物种的共价组装的性质，并使用分解的化学方法将这些物种释放到一个系统中。进一步的优点包括系统的树枝状成分在影响溶解度、能量收集或绝缘能力方面的作用，并利用分解的化学作用来逆转对系统的这些贡献。这项拟议的工作提出了一个系统的、分为四个部分的研究计划，以进一步开发树枝状大分子的拆卸技术。首先是设计和实施新的合成策略，以更有效和更高产量的方式制备可拆卸的树枝状结构。第二，将制备基于根本不同的树枝状大分子亚单位的新的可拆卸结构。第三，受控拆卸和亚基捕获研究将用于分析这些新系统的能力和反应性。有了这个奖项，有机和高分子化学项目支持亚利桑那大学的多米尼克·麦格拉思的研究，他的研究将导致纳米技术中一个全新的概念-树枝状大分子拆分的进一步发展。作为这项研究计划的一部分准备的材料将(A)对传统聚合物降解技术有用，(B)在纳米技术、生物医学和传感器技术方面具有潜在的增强能力。由于这一研究计划是分子设计、合成和表征的有机结合，并考虑到有机反应的重要因素，学生将在更大的材料化学领域获得广泛的经验。因此，本研究非常适合研究生、博士后和本科生的教育。事实上，McGrath教授团队的本科生在前一个项目期间取得了几项重大进展，这一进展将在本项目期间通过树枝状大分子拆解应用的调查而得到加强。这些应用本质上是跨学科的，跨学科研究为本科生和研究生提供了一个独特的培养环境。

With this award, the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program supports Dominic McGrath of the University of Arizona whose research will address the further design, development and implementation of the controlled dendrimer degradation technology known as 'dendrimer disassembly' that was recently developed in his laboratory. Dendrimer disassembly relies on a single triggering event to initiatemultiple cleavages throughout a dendritic structure that result in release of individual dendrimer subunits or larger dendrimer fragments. The potential of this process lies in the nature of dendrimers as covalent assemblages of active species, and using the chemistry of disassembly to release these species into a system. Further advantages include the role of dendritic components of a system in influencing solubility, energy harvesting, or insulating capabilities, and using the chemistry of disassembly to reverse those contributions to a system. The proposed work presents a systematic, four-part research plan to further develop dendrimer disassembly technology. First will be the design and implementation new synthetic strategies for preparing disassembling dendritic structures in a more efficient and higher yielding fashion. Second, new disassembling structures based on fundamentally different dendrimer subunits will be prepared. Third, controlled disassembly and subunit trapping studies will be used to assay the capability and reactivity of these new systems. And fourth, new effective implementations of disassembling structures as application of their unique reactivity will be initiated.With this award, the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program supports Dominic McGrath of the University of Arizona whose research will result in the further development of an entirely new concept in nanotechnology, dendrimer disassembly. Materials prepared as part of this research plan will (a) be useful for traditional polymer degradation technologies, and (b) have potential enhanced capabilities in nanotechnology, biomedicine, and sensor technology. Since this research program is a coherent combination of molecular design, synthesis, and characterization, with important considerations of organic reactivity, students will obtain a broad array of experiences in the larger area of materials chemistry. Hence, this research is ideally suited to the education of graduate, postdoctoral, as well as undergraduate students. In fact, undergraduates in Professor McGrath's group have made several significant advances in the previous project period, which will be enhanced in this project period by the investigation of applications of dendrimer disassembly. These applications are interdisciplinary in nature, and interdisciplinary research provides a unique training environment for undergraduates and graduate students.