Dendritic supermolecules--towards controllable nanomaterials.

Dendritic molecules constitute one of the most exciting areas of modern nanochemistry, largely as a consequence of the unique properties associated with their branched architectures. This article describes how 'dendritic function' can also be achieved using small, synthetically accessible branched building blocks (individual dendrons) which simply self-assemble via non-covalent interactions to generate dendritic nanoscale architectures with novel behaviour. (a) Using non-covalent interactions at the focal point of a dendron allows the self-assembly of nanometre-sized supramolecular dendrimers around an appropriate template species. Such systems have potential applications in the controlled encapsulation and release of active ingredients. (b) Employing non-covalent intermolecular dendron-dendron interactions can give rise to the hierarchical assembly of nanostructured materials. Such assemblies of dendritic molecules ultimately express their molecular scale information on a macroscopic scale, and therefore have applications in materials science, for example as gels. (c) The multiple surface groups of dendrons are capable of forming multiple interactions with large surfaces, such as those found on biomolecules or in biological systems. Employing multivalent interactions between dendron surfaces and biological molecules opens up the potential application of dendritic systems as medicinal therapies. In summary, dendritic supermolecules offer a potentially cost-effective approach to the future application of dendritic systems to a range of real-world problems.