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English correction fees (250 CHF) will be added in certain cases (1050 CHF per paper for those papers that require extensive additional formatting and/or English corrections.). http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/14/10/3881/ Novel polyfunctional small amphiphilic peptide dendrimers characterized by incorporation of a new core compounds – tris-amino acids or tetrakis-amino alcohols that originated from a series of basic amino acids – were efficiently synthesized. These new core elements yielded molecules with multiple branching and (+5)/(+6) charge at the 1-st dendrimer generation. Dendrimers exhibited significant antimicrobial potency against Gram(+) and Gram(-) strains involving also multiresistant reference strains (S. aureus ATCC 43300 and E. coli ATCC BAA-198). In addition, high activity against fungi from the Candida genus was detected. More charged and more hydrophobic peptide dendrimers expressed hemolytic properties. http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/14/10/3881/ Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:00:00 CEST Molecules 2009-09-29 14 10 Article 3881 3905 1420-3049 Design of Antimicrobially Active Small Amphiphilic Peptide Dendrimers 2009-09-29 doi: 10.3390/molecules14103881 Piotr Polcyn Margarita Jurczak Aleksandra Rajnisz Jolanta Solecka Zofia Urbanczyk-Lipkowska http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/14/10/3851/ A family of dendritic tris-bipyridyl ruthenium coordination complexes incorporating two or four carboxylate groups for binding to a TiO2 surface site and another dendritic linker between the metal complex and highly absorptive dyes were formulated as thin films on TiO2 coated glass. The family included phenothiazine-substituted dendrons of increasing structural complexity and higher optical density. The dye-loaded films were characterized by steady-state emission and absorption measurements and by kinetic studies of luminescence and transient absorption. Upon photoexcitation of the bound dyes, rapid electron injection into the metal oxide film was the dominant observed process, producing oxidized dye that persisted for hundreds of milliseconds. Complex decay profiles for emission, transient absorption, and optical bleaching of the dendritic dyes point to highly heterogeneous behavior for the films, with observed persistence lifetimes related directly to structurally enhance electronic coupling between the metal oxide support and the dendritic dyes. http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/14/10/3851/ Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:00:00 CEST Molecules 2009-09-28 14 10 Article 3851 3867 1420-3049 The Effect of Dye Density on the Efficiency of Photosensitization of TiO2 Films: Light-Harvesting by Phenothiazine-Labelled Dendritic Ruthenium Complexes 2009-09-28 doi: 10.3390/molecules14103851 Marye Anne Fox James K. Whitesell Douglas Magde Lin-Yong Zhu http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/14/9/3731/ Fifth generation ethylendiamine-core poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM G5) is presented as an efficient capping agent for the preparation of metal and semiconductor nanoparticles by ps laser ablation in water. In particular, we describe results obtained with the fundamental, second and third harmonic of a ps Nd:YAG laser and the influence of laser wavelength and pulse energy on gold particle production and subsequent photofragmentation. In this framework, the role of the dendrimer and, in particular, its interactions with gold clusters and cations are accounted. http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/14/9/3731/ Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:00:00 CEST Molecules 2009-09-22 14 9 Article 3731 3753 1420-3049 Dendrimer-Capped Nanoparticles Prepared by Picosecond Laser Ablation in Liquid Environment 2009-09-22 doi: 10.3390/molecules14093731 Emilia Giorgetti Anna Giusti Francesco Giammanco Paolo Marsili Simona Laza http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/14/9/3719/ This review focuses on novel carbosilane dendrimers containing branches with Si-C and Si-O-C bonds. Introduction of organic moieties into the dendrimers is performed by hydrosilation of carbon-carbon double/triple bonds. Versatile organic or organometallic moieties are introduced onto the peripheral regions of dendrimers by coupling and complexation reactions, which clearly demonstrates their potential for variation. http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/14/9/3719/ Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:00:00 CEST Molecules 2009-09-22 14 9 Review 3719 3730 1420-3049 Carbosilane and Carbosiloxane Dendrimers 2009-09-22 doi: 10.3390/molecules14093719 Chungkyun Kim Jang Hwan Hong http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/14/9/3700/ The optical functionalities such as exciton recurrence and migration for dendritic systems, e.g., dendrimers, are investigated using the quantum master equation (QME) approach based on the ab initio molecular orbital configuration interaction (MOCI) method, which can treat both the coherent and incoherent exciton dynamics at the first principle level. Two types of phenylacetylene dendrimers, Cayley-tree dendrimer and nanostar dendrimer with anthracene core, are examined to elucidate the features of excion recurrence and migration motions in relation to their structural dependences. It is found that the nanostar dendrimer exhibits faster exciton migration from the periphery to the core than Cayley-tree dendrimer, which alternatively exhibits exciton recurrence motion among dendron parts in case of small relaxation parameters. Such strong structural dependence of exciton dynamics demonstrates the advantage of dendritic molecular systems for future applications in nano-optical and light-harvesting devices. http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/14/9/3700/ Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:00:00 CEST Molecules 2009-09-22 14 9 Article 3700 3718 1420-3049 Theoretical Study on Exciton Dynamics in Dendritic Systems: Exciton Recurrence and Migration 2009-09-22 doi: 10.3390/molecules14093700 Masayoshi Nakano Ryohei Kishi Takuya Minami Kyohei Yoneda http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/14/1/423/ Recent advances in molecular dynamics simulation methodologies and computational power have allowed accurate predictions of dendrimer size, shape, and interactions with bilayers and polyelectrolytes with modest computational effort. Atomistic and coarse-grained (CG) models show strong interactions of cationic dendrimers with lipid bilayers. The CG simulations with explicit lipid and water capture bilayer penetration and pore formation, showing that pore formation is enhanced at high dendrimer concentration, but suppressed at low temperature and high salt concentration, in agreement with experiments. Cationic linear polymers have also been simulated, but do not perforate membranes, evidently because by deforming into a pancake, the charges on a linear polymer achieve intimate contact with a single bilayer leaflet. The relatively rigid dendrimers, on the other hand, penetrate the bilayer, because only by interacting with both leaflets can they achieve a similar degree of contact between charged groups. Also, a “dendrimer-filled vesicle” structure for the dendrimer-membrane interaction is predicted by mesoscale thermodynamic simulations, in agreement with a picture derived from experimental observations. In simulations of complexes of dendrimer and polyelectrolyte, anionic linear chains wrap around the cationic dendrimer and penetrate inside it. Overall, these new results indicate that simulations can now provide predictions in excellent agreement with experimental observations, and provide atomic-scale insights into dendrimer structure and dynamics. http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/14/1/423/ Mon, 19 Jan 2009 00:00:00 CET Molecules 2009-01-19 14 1 Review 423 438 1420-3049 Multiscale Modeling of Dendrimers and Their Interactions with Bilayers and Polyelectrolytes 2009-01-19 doi: 10.3390/molecules14010423 Hwankyu Lee Ronald G. Larson