Dendrimers Conjugated to Controlled Numbers of Membrane-disrupting Moietie

Generation 5.0 poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers have been shown to be useful as platforms in drug delivery systems because of their ability to solvate molecules in water and their multi-valent conjugation capabilities. However, samples of conjugated G5.0 PAMAM dendrimer-ligand moieties exist in a distribution of different dendrimer to ligand ratios. Previous work has shown that through semi-preparative HPLC, dendrimers with specific numbers of ligands can be isolated from a statistical distribution to yield dendrimers with one ligand, two ligands, three ligands, etc. The current project utilizes small molecules with potentially antibacterial characteristics directly conjugated to dendrimer for separation via HPLC.  Novel compounds are synthesized with carboxylic acids for simple conjugation, aromatic rings for streamlined characterization, and alkyl chains to promote antimicrobial activity.