Novel water-soluble carbosilane dendrimers:: Synthesis and biocompatibility

A synthetic strategy has been developed for the preparation of new peripheral amine- or ammonium-terminated carbosilane dendrimers of type nG-[Si(OCH2CH2NMe2)(y)](x), or nG[Si(OCH2CH2NMe3+I-)(y)](x), respectively. It consists of the alcoholysis of well-known chlorosilane-terminated dendrimers with N,N-dimethylethanolamine and the subsequent quaternization with MeI. All these systems are susceptible to hydrolysis, although the decomposition depends on concentration and dendrimer generation. Evaluation of dendrimer toxicities by phase-contrast light microscopy and MTT assay were carried out, and evidence of dendrimer/oligonucleotide complex formation was carried out by gel electrophoresis. ((c) Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2006).