title: Synthesis and characterization of fluorescent poly(aromatic amide) dendrimers.
abstract: The synthesis of a series of poly(aromatic amide) dendrimers up to the second generation is described herein. The AB(2) building block used throughout the synthesis of the dendrimers was the allyl ester of 3,5-diaminocinnamic acid, which has been synthesized from 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid in good yield with use of a four-step procedure. Dendron synthesis was achieved via a convergent approach with use of a sequence of deprotection/coupling steps. Two commercially available alcohols, L-menthol and citronellol, were coupled to the AB(2) monomer by using an alkyl diacid spacer and two core units; 1,7-diaminoheptane and tris(2-aminoethyl)amine have been used to produce the final dendrimers. Characterization was carried out by NMR and IR spectroscopies, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, GPC, and DSC. The novel monomer and dendritic derivatives exhibited a strong fluorescence emission in the visible region (lambda approximately 500 nm) of the spectrum and a weak emission in the near-infrared (lambda approximately 850 nm) upon excitation in the near-UV region. The fluorescence emission characteristics were found to be solvent and dendrimer generation dependent.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry, The University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AD, UK.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Aulenta
authors.forename: Michael G B
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Drew
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Foster
authors.forename: Wayne
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hayes
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rannard
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Thornthwaite
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Worrall
authors.forename: Tristan G A
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Youngs