Unraveling the Photoluminescence Puzzle of PAMAM Dendrimers

Breaking it down: The origin of poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) photoluminescence was first established from the formation of unsaturated hydroxylamine, resulting from a cascade of Cope elimination reactions. The tertiary amines of the dendritic core of PAMAM are oxidized by H2O2 to form the amine oxide, which can subsequently induce elimination reactions through a cyclic transition state to generate an unsaturated hydroxylamine species with strong photoluminescence (see scheme). Detailed facts of importance to specialist readers are published as "Supporting Information". Such documents are peer-reviewed, but not copy-edited or typeset. They are made available as submitted by the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.