CHAPTER 7:Dendrimers

Dendrimers are polymeric macromolecules constituted of a repetitive sequence of monomers growing step-by-step from a multifunctional core in a radial iterative fashion, not by polymeric reactions. Their synthesis offers the opportunity to generate monodisperse, structure-controlled architectures resulting in utility in specific biomedical applications. Advances in the role of molecular weight and architecture on the behaviour of these dendrimers, together with recent progress in the design of biodegradable chemistries, has permitted the application of these branched polymers as antiviral drugs and in other applications outside medicine.