STARBURST(R) DENDRIMERS - A CONCEPTUAL-APPROACH TO NANOSCOPIC CHEMISTRY AND ARCHITECTURE

The nanoscopic domain of structural complexity, which ranges from 1 to 100 nm on a particle size scale includes a relatively unexplored area of science which resides between classical chemistry and molecular biology. This rapidly growing area of science is referred to as nanoscopic chemistry and architecture. Concepts evolving in this area lead to a rich variety of precise structures, architecture and properties. These concepts are based on dendritic macromolecules in general and on Starbust (R) dendrimers in particular. They envision dendrimers as fundamental building blocks which may be used to synthesize nanoscopic compounds, clusters, polymers, etc. Accordingly, dendrimers are regarded architecturally as functional analogues of atoms; therefore, their potential role in nanoscopic chemistry may be compared to that of the atoms in classical chemistry.