Convergent synthesis of dendrimers based on 1,3,3-trisubstituted 2-oxindoles

Dendrons and dendrimers were convergently prepared using an isatin as AB(2) monomer by superelectrophilic arylation in trifluoromethanesulfonic acid. This strategy has the advantage that incomplete reactions of the AB(2) monomer are minimized, thus simplifying purification. As the obtained dendrons/dendrimers are analogues of the hyperbranched polymers with a degree of branching of 100% developed earlier in our group, an opportunity is created to compare the latter with their structurally perfect counterparts. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.