Fluorescence Studies of Anthracene Functionalized PAMAM Dendrimers Anchored to Self Assembled Monolayers

In this paper we demonstrate the pH sensitivity of anthracene functionalized poly(amidoamine), or PAMAM, dendrimers that have been anchored to self assembled monolayers (SAM´s) on gold. The dendrimer, with 64 peripheral amine groups was first covalently attached to a mixed mercaptopropionic acid/propanethiol SAM, after which the dendrimer´s unreacted peripheral-amine groups were functionalized with NHS esters of 9-anthracene carboxylic acid. We investigate the fluorescence properties of these functionalized PAMAM SAMs under different pH conditions. The thin films have also been examined by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and UV-vis spectroscopy. The incorporation of functionalized dendrimers into thin films has application in chemical sensing.