The Synthesis and Study of Dendrimers and Star Polymers Without Cores

139 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2004.Dendrimers having 16, 24, 32, or 64 alkene groups were synthesized and intramolecularly cross-linked. The combined use of MALDI-TOF MS and SEC analysis of the resulting structures indicated that in each case, as the degree of dendrimer cross-linking increased, its radius of gyration (Rg) decreased linearly. Upon cross-linking of the dendrimer having 64 alkene groups, atomic force microscopy (AFM) data indicated that as the degree of cross-linking increased, the height of the resulting structure deposited on a mica surface increased linearly. These results were interpreted in terms of an increase in rigidity with cross-linking. In addition, smaller dendrons and a dendrimer having 16 alkene groups were cross-linked, and the resulting structures were analyzed by 1H NMR, x-ray crystallography, MALDI-TOF MS, and SEC to provide insight into the types of the cross-links that are preferred in the cross-linking process.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD