Langmuir, Vol.15, No.13, 4397-4403, 1999
First example of supramolecular assemblies in water of new amphiphilic glucose-persubstituted poly(amidoamine) dendrimers
We described in this work new glucose-persubstituted poly(amidoamine) dendrimers. The physicochemical properties of these new amphiphilic dendrimers were investigated in water, showing that these new amphiphilic dendrimers were able to solubilizate increasing quantities of hydrophobic compounds (pyrene or aromatic ketones) in water, depending on the number of microcavities in each dendrimer. These dendrimers were observed to behave like unimolecular micelles. For the first time the formation of aggregates of these carbohydrate dendrimers in superstructures could be observed by electron microscopy and light scattering. Moreover, it is the first example of asymmetric induction in the "pseudomicellar" solution of a chiral amphiphilic dendrimer: therefore, asymmetric reduction of the prochiral aromatic ketone (benzoylcyclohexane) was achieved by NaBH4 with a chemical yield of 95% and an enantiomeric excess of 50%.