The preparation and property investigation of dendrimers constitute one of the most exciting frontiers of current chemical research.  The focus has shifted from mere construction of molecules with dendritic architecture to creation of materials with interesting properties and potentially important applications.  Metallodendrimers - dendrimers containing metal element(s) in the framework - have been contrived in this context, with the hope of integrating the unique electronic, magnetic, or catalytic properties of metals with the nanoscopic dimension of dendrimers.  Utilizing transition metal ions in conjunction with polydendate ligands, a great variety of metallodendrimers have been prepared, whereby the metal-ligand dative bonding serves to drive and direct the assembly of dendrimers.  We envision an analogous yet probably more intriguing class of metallodendrimers with the use of metal clusters in place of single metal ions.  The accessible multiple metal sites of a cluster allow for structurally unique disposal of dendritic ligands.  More importantly, the inherent metal-metal or metal-ligand interactions provide an opportunity for interesting and possibly useful physical and chemical properties.  Thus, the study of cluster-based metallodendrimers is expected to offer many fascinating research problems with potentially important consequences.

Conceptually the metal cluster-supported dendrimers may be applied to the formation and stabilization of nanocrystallites of metals and semiconducting materials.  Specifically, dendritic architecture can be used as protecting sheath to prevent the agglomeration of the otherwise metastable nanoparticles from occurring.  Such nanocomposite materials are envisioned to have significant impact on the development of nanoelectronic and nanooptical devices.