Themed collection Dendrimers and Hyperbranched Polymers

Guest editors Anne-Marie Caminade, Deyue Yan and David K. Smith introduce the Dendrimers and Hyperbranched Polymers issue of Chemical Society Reviews

The use of hyperbranched polymers as an alternative to perfect dendrimers as nanocarrier systems for drugs, dyes and other guest molecules is covered. Different types of hyperbranched polymers are discussed with regard to aspects like synthesis, functionalisation and encapsulation properties but also their degradation.

This review was written with the intention to critically evaluate the status of dendrimers as drug carriers and find answers as to why this class of compounds has not translated into the clinic despite 40 years of research.

This review summarizes the advances in hyperbranched polymers from the viewpoint of structure, click synthesis and functionalization towards their applications in the last decade.

The potential of dendritic glycopolymers based on dendritic polyamine scaffolds for biomedical applications is presented and compared with that of the structurally related anti-adhesive dendritic glycoconjugates.

The potential to incorporate dendritic characteristics, such as self-similarity into new fractal-based materials is exemplified in the self-assembly of novel, polyterpyridine-based, building blocks.

The site-specific functionalization of poly(phenylene) dendrimers can produce macromolecules with a range of different polarities.

The recent research progress in biological and biomedical applications of hyperbranched polymers has been summarized in this review.

This review summarizes the recent progress in functional HBPs and their application in optics, electronics and magnetics, including light-emitting devices, aggregation-induced emission materials, nonlinear optical materials, chemosensors, solar cells, magnetic materials, etc., and provides outlooks for further exploration in the field.

This review covers the recent development of hyperbranched polyphosphates, including synthesis, functionalization and biomedical applications, that may promote the interdiscipline research among dendritic polymers, functional material, and biomedicine.

The arsenal of available carbohydrates can be manipulated to provide versatile building blocks toward the syntheses of complex and chiral dendrimers.

This tutorial review summarizes the first 10 years of work on hyperbranched polymer vesicles from syntheses, self-assembly, and properties to applications.

Self-assembly of quasi-equivalent amphiphilic dendrons into secondary and tertiary structures and their self-organization into periodic arrays.

The dendritic effect occurs when the properties of a functional group become different when it is linked to a dendrimer.