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Review
. 2017 Sep 21;22(10):1581.
doi: 10.3390/molecules22101581.

Function Oriented Molecular Design: Dendrimers as Novel Antimicrobials

Sandra García-Gallego  1   2 , Gianluigi Franci  3   4 , Annarita Falanga  5 , Rafael Gómez  6   7 , Veronica Folliero  8 , Stefania Galdiero  9   10   11 , Francisco Javier de la Mata  12   13 , Massimiliano Galdiero  14   15
Affiliations
Review

Function Oriented Molecular Design: Dendrimers as Novel Antimicrobials

Sandra García-Gallego et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

In recent years innovative nanostructures are attracting increasing interest and, among them, dendrimers have shown several fields of application. Dendrimers can be designed and modified in plentiful ways giving rise to hundreds of different molecules with specific characteristics and functionalities. Biomedicine is probably the field where these molecules find extraordinary applicability, and this is probably due to their multi-valency and to the fact that several other chemicals can be coupled to them to obtain desired compounds. In this review we will describe the different production strategies and the tools and technologies for the study of their characteristics. Finally, we provide a panoramic overview of their applications to meet biomedical needs, especially their use as novel antimicrobials.

Keywords: antibacterial; antimicrobial; antiparasitic; antiviral; delivery; dendrimers; preparation; structure.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Scheme 1
Scheme 1
Synthesis of PPI dendrimers.
Scheme 2
Scheme 2
Example of a typical synthesis of CBS dendrimers.
Scheme 3
Scheme 3
Synthesis of poly(l-lysine) dendrons proposed by Denkewalter [4].
Scheme 4
Scheme 4
Synthesis of a typical Newkome-type dendrimer or arborol.
Scheme 5
Scheme 5
Synthesis of PAMAM dendrimers.
Scheme 6
Scheme 6
Example of synthesis of phosphorus-containing dendrimers (PD).
Figure 1
Figure 1
Example of 3rd generation poly(aryl ether) and poly(phenylene) dendrimers.
Scheme 7
Scheme 7
A divergent route adopted for kilogram-scale synthesis of triazine dendrimers [46].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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