Extending the limits of precision polymer synthesis: Giant polyphenylene dendrimers in the megadalton mass range approaching structural perfection

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/ja311430r

The catalyst-free Diels-Alder synthesis of polyphenylene dendrimers with a chromophore core has now been demonstrated to achieve the seventh to ninth generations upon divergent growth. Since standard analytical tools such as size-exclusion chromatography do not provide realistic molecular weights, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry was applied to characterize the complete series of nine generations. Perfection and monodispersity were thus elucidated at such high masses. Transmission electron microscopy imaging was used to determine the size of these molecularly defined nanosized particles with diameters of up to 33 nm.