What good are dendrimers or hyperbranched polymers?

This is a fair question and I attempt to answer this.

From my viewpoint, the singular advantage in using these highly branched polymers is they bring chemical moieties in close proximity. They are constrained by the polymer's achitecture to be at high local concentration.

Attaching the same moiety to a linear polymer will not (I think) produce the same result due to the chain flexibility. Also, having the moiety free from a substrate, like a dendrimer, is expected to produce a different effect.

These three ways to use the chemical moiety: attached to a dendrimer, attached to a linear polymer and free; are shown schematically below.

The dendrimer is shown to the have more of the chemical moiety (M) in closer proximity to a surface () where a chemical reaction or physical process can take place. In fact, Chen et al. have shown biocide moieties work more effectively when attached to a dendrimer than when free in solution.*

This close proximity effect is the aspect we intend to exploit whether it be with surface interactions or within the bulk.

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* C.Z. Chen, N.C. Beck Tan and S.L. Cooper, Chem. Comm. 16 (1999) 1585.

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