posted on 2012-09-10, 00:00authored byMarta Herrero, Beatriz Alonso, José Losada, Pilar Garcı́a-Armada, Carmen M. Casado
Hydrosilylation reactions of two octasilsesquioxane dendritic
cores containing terminal vinyl groups with bis(ferrocenyl)methylsilane
(1) give dendrimers functionalized with 16 (G1-Fc16) and 32 (G2-Fc32) interacting ferrocenyl units. Characterization of
the dendrimers by 1H, 13C{1H}, and 29Si{1H} NMR spectroscopy as well as mass spectrometry
supports their assigned structures. The thermal behavior of dendrimers G1-Fc16 and G2-Fc32 was studied by TGA techniques. The redox activity
of the ferrocenyl centers in G1-Fc16 and G2-Fc32 has been
characterized by cyclic voltammetry and square wave voltammetry in
dichloromethane containing [n-Bu4N][PF6] as electrolyte support. The solution voltammetric studies
of the dendrimers G1-Fc16 and G2-Fc32 exhibit the pattern of communicating
ferrocenyl sites with two distinct, separated oxidation waves. The
dendrimers were also deposited on electrode surfaces and the electrodes
investigated via CV, showing formation of electroactive films with
promising results for the use of these materials in the development
of biosensors.