From 1 → 3 dendritic designs to fractal supramacromolecular constructs: understanding the pathway to the Sierpiński gasket. (15th October 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Newkome, George R.; Moorefield, Charles N.
• Is Part Of: Chemical Society reviews. Volume 44:Number 12(2015:Jun.)
• Page Start: 3954
• Page End: 3967
• Publication Date: 2014-10-15
• Subjects: Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540
• DOI: 10.1039/c4cs00234b
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0306-0012

Abstract

Abstract : The potential to incorporate dendritic characteristics, such as self-similarity into new fractal-based materials is exemplified in the self-assembly of novel, polyterpyridine-based, building blocks. Abstract : The iterative synthetic protocols used for dendrimer construction were developed based on the desire to easily craft highly branched macromolecules with ideally an exact mass and tailored functionality. Inspired by arboreal design and precursors of the utilitarian macromolecules known as dendrimers today, our first examples employed predesigned, 1 → 3 or 1 → (1 + 2) C -branched, building blocks. Physical characteristics of the dendrimers, including their globular shapes, excellent solubility, and demonstrated aggregation, revealed the inherent supramolecular potential. The architecture that is characteristic of dendritic materials also exhibits obvious fractal qualities based on self-similar, repetitive, branched frameworks. Thus, both the fractal design and supramolecular aspects of these constructs are suggestive of a larger field of fractal materials that incorporate repeating geometries and are derived by complementary building block recognition and assembly. Use of 〈terpyridine–M 2+ –terpyridine〉 connectivity for the sides and tuned directed organic vertices has opened the door to other types of novel materials. This approach also circumvents the nonideality of dendrimers, since the heteroleptic, one-step, spontaneous self-assembly process facilitates quantitative outcomes.