| Part I. A series of polyether monodendrons based on 3,5-dihydroxybenzyl alcohol as the monomer unit were synthesized using a convergent growth strategy. The synthesis involved the condensation of two equivalents of a benzylic bromide with the two phenolic groups of the monomer, 3,5-dihydroxybenzyl alcohol, under phase transfer conditions. A benzylic alcohol functionality was then converted into corresponding bromide and these procedures repeated until a fifth generation dendritic wedge was obtained. The bromomethyl group at the focal point was then converted into the desired amino functionalized dendritic fragment.;Part II. Unlike anionic procedures which are incompatible with a large number of functional groups, nitroxide mediated 'living' free radical procedures have the potential to be tolerant to a wide variety of functional groups. This new polymerization technique may therefore offer an unparalleled opportunity in the synthesis of reactive linear polymers with controlled molecular weight and low polydispersity. Using this new technique, the one-step synthesis of active ester substituted linear polymers was examined.;Part III. The reactive linear polymers with active ester functional groups were next coupled with the monoamino substituted dendrons to give high molecular weight hybrid dendritic linear block copolymers. These materials were fully characterized, and the relationship between dendrimer size and percent incorporation was determined. |
