New chiral phosphorus-containing dendrimers with ferrocenes on the periphery

Four series of new chiral ferrocenyl dendrimers (up to the 11th generation) have been synthesised and fully characterised. Electrochemical studies have been carried out on these dendrimers. In every case, one single oxidation wave has been observed, corresponding to the independent oxidation of all the ferrocene groups to ferrocenium. The chiroptical properties of the different dendrimers have been studied: the molar rotation depends only on the number of stereogenic units, independently of the generation in all series of dendrimers. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.