Clickable PEG-dendritic block copolymers

Three generations of azido-terminated PEG-dendritic block copolymers have been synthesized and completely characterized by NMR and MALDI-TOF. A radial decrease of density, leading to more mobile protons at the outermost periphery, and an increasingly higher compactness of the core with generation have been determined by T-1 and T-2 relaxation time studies. The efficient surface decoration of these dendritic polymers by means of click chemistry has been demonstrated by the incorporation of unprotected carbohydrate units in very good to excellent yields. The reaction proceeds at room temperature, under aqueous conditions, and requires just catalytic amounts of Cu. The modified block copolymers are conveniently purified by ultrafiltration. The glycodendrimers functionalized with alpha-mannose form aggregates with concanavalin A as determined by absorbance experiments at 400 nm. This aggregation ability increases with generation.