Development and application of multivalent dendritic platforms

In our group, we develop new concepts and the respective synthetic and separation methods for the preparation and isolation of carbosilane dendrimers and complex macromolecular and supramolecular systems based on dendritic architectures. The outer shell of the dendrimer (periphery) contains multiple well-defined anchoring points, suitable for attachment of functional moieties targeted to particular applications. The modular synthetic approach allows us to design specific heterofunctional materials. We focus especially on the synthesis of multivalent glycoconjugates and anion receptors.

Multivalent glycosylated materials play an important role in glycobiology, e.g., as enzyme inhibitors or model clustered systems to study interactions between saccharides and lectins (sugar-binding proteins), or to use them as nonviral vectors and drug delivery systems. At present, we develop multivalent dendritic systems presenting not only natural ligands of lectins and carbohydrate transporters, i.e. glucose, galactose, lactose, and N-acetyl-d-lactosamine but also their synthetic analogs and derivatives.

In addition, we are interested in the preparation of recyclable receptors of biologically important anions (H₂PO₄^–, carboxylates, chiral carboxylic acids, etc.). Active sites recognizing particular analytes are anchored to a dendritic carbosilane carrier, which, besides multiplying the binding sites, enables their cooperation on analyte coordination. Moreover, such receptors can be used to separate the analyte from a mixture in the form of a macromolecular complex. Induced dissociation of a complex and nanofiltration leads to receptor recycling and to the separation of the targeted analyte.