ABSTRACT
Over the last 150 years, organic chemists have primarily been concerned with the synthesis of relatively small molecules with precise dimensions and of exact composition. Extraordinary achievements have been obtained in natural product synthesis primarily due to advances made in synthetic methodologies and developments achieved in novel characterization techniques. The polymer chemist, on the other hand, has relied on the synthesis of large but polydisperse linear and cross-linked polymer chains. Despite the molecular weight distributions present in high molecular weight materials, polymers fulfill a multitude of important roles in society. It is impossible to imagine life today without the contributions of either of the two fields mentioned above. Despite these accomplishments, no synthetic strategy has yet approached the diversity and precise molecular morphogenesis that nature has mastered in the evolutionary development from simple organic molecules to complex macromolecules and assemblies. Both synthetic organic and polymer chemists have long sought ways to obtain control over synthetic polymer structure and composition at a level comparable to that observed in biological systems. In this quest a new category of polymers has emerged during the past decade, termed "dendrimers," which are beginning to display control over features such as chemical composition, size, and shape.
