Dendritic Functionalization of Metal Nanoparticles for Nanoparticle-Cored Dendrimers

This paper presents a concise review of synthetic strategies for nanoparticle-cored dendrimers from metal nanoparticles, with an emphasis on their current applications. The synthesis of nanoparticle-cored dendrimers represents an important advance to the control and preparation of new organized nanostructures. The most popular way for the synthesis of nanoparticle-cored dendrimers is a direct method using a modified Schiffrin reaction with dendrons containing thiol or disulfide groups. The second method is an indirect method involving two-step reactions, the synthesis of monolayer-stabilized nanoparticles followed by the ligand-place exchange with thiolateddendrons. Thirdly, a new synthetic strategy to build dendritic architectures around a monolayer-protected nanoparticle using single or multi-step organic reactions is described. Two different approaches for this new synthetic method are attempted. Convergent approach is based on a strategy in which the synthesis of monolayer-protected nanoparticles is followed by adding dendrons on nanoparticles by a single coupling reaction. Divergent approach uses multi-step reactions to build dendritic architectures around a nanoparticle core. Incorporation of a redox molecule on the surface of core nanoparticle in nanoparticle-cored dendrimers results in the formation of redox-active nanoparticle-cored dendrimers.