Development and Application of Dendrimer Disassembly

通过这个奖项，有机和大分子化学项目支持亚利桑那大学的Dominic McGrath，他的研究将进一步设计、开发和实施受控的树状大分子降解技术，即最近在他的实验室开发的“树状大分子分解”。树突分解依赖于单个触发事件，在整个树突结构中启动多个裂解，从而释放单个树突亚基或更大的树突片段。这一过程的潜力在于树状大分子作为活性物质的共价组合的性质，并利用分解的化学反应将这些物质释放到系统中。进一步的优势包括系统的树突组分在影响溶解度、能量收集或绝缘能力方面的作用，以及使用分解化学来逆转这些对系统的贡献。所提出的工作提出了一个系统的，四部分的研究计划，以进一步发展树突分解技术。首先将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枝晶结构。其次，基于根本不同的树突亚基的新的可拆卸结构将被制备。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。第四，由于其独特的反应性，将启动新的有效的可拆卸结构的实现。通过这个奖项，有机和大分子化学项目支持亚利桑那大学的Dominic McGrath，他的研究将导致纳米技术中一个全新概念的进一步发展，即树突大分子分解。作为该研究计划的一部分制备的材料将(a)对传统的聚合物降解技术有用，并且(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。由于该研究项目是分子设计、合成和表征的连贯结合，并考虑了有机反应性的重要因素，学生将在更大的材料化学领域获得广泛的经验。因此，这项研究非常适合研究生、博士后和本科生的教育。事实上，McGrath教授小组的本科生在上一个项目期间已经取得了几项重大进展，在本项目期间将通过研究树突分子拆卸的应用来加强这些进展。这些应用本质上是跨学科的，跨学科的研究为本科生和研究生提供了一个独特的训练环境。

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.