Expanding the limits of synthetic macromolecular chemistry through Polyphenylene Dendrimers

Polyphenylene dendrimers (PPDs) are a unique class of macromolecules because their backbone is made from twisted benzene repeat units that result in a rigid, shape-persistent architecture as reported by Hammer et al. (Chem Soc Rev 44:4072–4090, 2015) and Hammer and Müllen (Chem Rev 116:2103–210, 2016) These dendrimers can be synthetically tailored at their core, scaffold, and surface to introduce a wide range of chemical functionalities that influence their applications. It is the balance between the macromolecular properties of polyphenylene dendrimers with grandiose synthetic ingenuity that presents a template for the next generation of synthetic dendrimers to achieve complex structures other chemistry fields cannot. This perspective will look at how advances in synthetic chemistry have led to an explosion in the properties of polyphenylene dendrimers from their initial stage, as PPDs that were used as precursors for nanographenes, to next-generation dendrimers for organic electronic devices, sensors for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nanocarriers for small molecules, and even as complexes with therapeutic drugs and viruses, among others. Ideally, this perspective will illustrate how the evolution of synthetic chemistry has influenced the possible structures and properties of PPDs and how these chemical modifications have opened the door to unprecedented applications.