Rotaxane dendrimers are a newly emerging large family of mechanically interlocked molecules (MIMs), which combine the concept of molecular switching properties into hyperbranched dendrimers to render new macromolecular machines. Basically, rotaxane dendrimers are divided into three types and each type represents a special connection between the mechanical bonds, macrocycles and rods. In the past few years, with the methodology development of rotaxane synthesis, more complex and high molecular weight rotaxane dendrimers have been designed and synthesized, especially the most complicated Type III rotaxane dendrimers. In particular, higher generation sophisticated rotaxane dendrimers bring advancements from 1-dimensional to 3-dimensional molecular switching, and have been applied in advanced functional materials for various applications towards drug delivery. This review surveys the development and advancement of each type of rotaxane dendrimer, from the simple dendron-grafted Type I to intricate Type III dendritic polyrotaxane dendrimers with future perspectives.

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轮转烷树枝状聚合物作为可切换大分子机器的开发与进展

轮状烷树枝状聚合物是一个新兴的大分子机械连锁分子（MIM）系列，将分子转换特性的概念结合到超支化树枝状聚合物中，从而形成了新的大分子机器。基本上，轮烷类树枝状聚合物分为三种类型，每种类型代表机械键，大环和棒之间的特殊连接。在过去的几年中，随着轮烷的合成方法学的发展，已经设计并合成了更复杂和高分子量的轮烷树枝状聚合物，特别是最复杂的III型轮烷树枝状聚合物。尤其是，更高世代的复杂轮烷烷状大分子将一维分子转换提高到了三维，并已被用于先进的功能材料，用于药物输送的各种应用。本文综述了从简单的树枝状接枝I型到复杂的III型树枝状聚轮烷树状大分子的每种轮状烷类树状大分子的发展和进步，并具有未来的前景。