ARS | Publication request: EFFECT OF BRANCHING ON THE CHROMATOGRAPHIC BEHAVIOUR OF DENDRIMERS VS. LINEAR POLYSACCHARIDES

Submitted to: American Chemical Society Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: August 27, 1998
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: Dendrimers are, theoretically, the most highly branched structures achievable. Their numerous potential uses extend to being drug-delivery carriers, chromatographic support media, DNA transport structures, and NMR contrast agents. They may also serve as models for hyperbranched synthetic and natural polymers, an example of the latter being the polysaccharide amylopectin, a high-molecular weight component of many types of starches. In this study we have used size exclusion chromatography (SEC) to determine molecular weight averages and distributions and to compare the intrinsic viscosity distributions of dendrimers, dextrans, and the starch degradation polysaccharides known as maltodextrins, of equivalent molar mass. The size of dendrimers in solution calculated by SEC was contrasted to results obtained by computer modeling using molecular dynamics' forcefields. Where dissolution of certain dendrimers proved difficult, molecular weight averages and polydispersities were obtained by electrospray ionization mas spectrometry with linear quadrupole and quadrupole ion trap mass analyzers.