The solution structure of stilbenoid dendrimers: a small-angle scattering study.

The spatial structure of a stilbenoid dendrimer is investigated by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) in dilute solution. All measurements are performed in toluene. The dendrimer consists of a stilbenoid scaffold with appended hexyloxy chains. SAXS is mainly sensitive to the dendrimer scaffold whereas SANS intensity, measured in fully deuterated toluene, derives from the solute molecules. The resulting SAXS and SANS intensities are analyzed by comparison with various models. It is found that the model of a circular disk gives the best description of the data. SAXS data demonstrate that the stilbenoid scaffold is flat as expected for benzene rings conjugated through vinylene units. Thus, it can be described by a circular disk with a radius of 1.6 nm and a thickness of 0.7 nm. SANS, on the other hand, shows that the hexyloxy chains are not confined in the plane defined by the core. This is derived from modeling the SANS data with a much thicker circular disk (radius: 2.4 nm, thickness: 1.8 nm). The structure factor S(q), describing the interaction of the dendrimers at higher concentrations, is modeled quantitatively with the "polymer reference interaction site model" (PRISM) integral equation formalism for hard plates such as particles. Here the structural data obtained from the analysis of the SANS data are used so that no new adjustable parameter is necessary for this description.