Abstract
Degradable dendrimer-like PEO's were designed using an original ABC-type branching agent featuring a cleavable ketal group, following an iterative divergent approach based on the anionic ring opening polymerization (AROP) of ethylene oxide and arborization of PEO chain ends. A seventh generation dendrimer-like PEO carrying 192 peripheral hydroxyls and exhibiting a molar mass of 446 kg . mol(-1) was obtained in this way. The chemical degradation of these dendritic scaffolds was next successfully accomplished under acidic conditions, forming linear PEO chains of low molar mass (approximate to 2 kg . mol(-1)), as monitored by H-1 NMR, SEC, and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry as well as by AFM.