Abstract

Dendrimers: Synthesis, types and applications: A review

Author(s): DhavalG.Gajjar,PravinkumarM.Patel

Dendrimers are newclass of polymers, first inventedin1978byVogtle.Unlike linear polymers, dendrimers have special properties such as nanometer size range,narrowpolydispersity,highdegreeofbranchingand presence of internal cavitieswhich allows them to be used inmany applications. Dendrimers can be mainly synthesized by either divergent or convergent routes. Recent advances lead to different routes for dendrimer synthesiswhich gives control overmolecular architecture and allows incorporation of different functionalities indendritic architecture.As a result new types of dendrimerswith different functionalities have beensynthesized.Uniquepropertiesofdendrimershave attracted attention of several researchers frominterdisciplinaryfields. This led to applications of dendrimers in various applications for e.g. various routes of drug delivery, gene therapy, cancer therapy, catalysis and in membrane technology.This reviewcovers approaches for dendrimer synthesis, andtheir potential applications such as drug delivery, gene delivery, cancer therapy, catalysis and inmembrane technology.