Dendrimers as anti-inflammatory agents

Dendrimers constitute an intriguing class of macromolecules which find applications in a variety of areas including biology. These hyperbranched macromolecules with tailored backbone and surface groups have been extensively investigated as nanocarriers for gene and drug delivery, by molecular encapsulation or covalent conjugation. Dendrimers have provided an excellent platform to develop multivalent and multifunctional nanoconjugates incorporating a variety of functional groups including drugs which are known to be anti-inflammatory agents. Recently, dendrimers have been shown to possess anti-inflammatory properties themselves. This unexpected and intriguing discovery has provided an additional impetus in designing novel active pharmaceutical agents. In this review, we highlight some of the recent developments in the field of dendrimers as nanoscale anti-inflammatory agents

Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory Study of Structure-Property Relationships in Diarylethene Photochromic Compounds

Photochromic compounds exhibit reversible transition between closed and open isomeric forms upon irradiation accompanied by change in their color. The two isomeric forms differ not only in absorption spectra, but also in various physical and chemical properties and find applications as optical switching and data storage materials. In this contribution we apply Density Functional Theory (DFT) and Time-Dependent DFT (TD-DFT) to predict the equilibrium geometry and absorption spectra of a benchmark set of diarylethene based photochromic compounds in open and closed forms (before and after photocyclization). Comparison of the calculated Bond Length Alternation parameters with those available from the X-ray data indicates M05-2x functional to be the best method for geometry optimization when basis set includes polarization functions. We found M05 functional accurately predicts the maximum absorption wavelength when solvent is taken into account. We recommend combined theory level TD-M05/6-31G*/PCM//M05-2x/6-31G*/PCM for prediction of geometrical and spectral parameters of diarylethene derivatives. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg