The first optically active polydendrimers have been synthesized by polymerization of binaphthyl-based dendrimers. Study of the chiral optical properties of the polydendrimers and their model compounds has revealed that the interaction of the dendritic side chains along the polybinaphthyl backbone cannot induce a secondary helical conformation. Energy migration from the dendritic side chains to the more conjugated polybinaphthyl main chain is observed through absorption and fluorescence spectroscopic studies. As the dendritic generation increases, the glass transition temperature of the polydendrimers decreases significantly. The dendritic substituents have made considerable influence on the thermal transition of the polybinaphthyls.

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The present study explores whether embodied meaning is activated in comprehension of action-related Mandarin counterfactual sentences. Participants listened to action-related Mandarin factual or counterfactual sentences describing transfer events (actions towards or away from the participant), and then performed verb-compatible or -incompatible motor action after a transfer verb (action towards or away from the participant) onset. The results demonstrated that motor simulation, specifically the interfering action-sentence compatibility effect (ACE), was obtained in both factual and counterfactual sentences. Additionally, the temporal course of motor resonance was slightly different between factual and counterfactual sentences. We concluded that embodied meaning was activated in action-related Chinese counterfactual sentences. The results supported a neural network model of Chersi, Thill, Ziemke, and Borghi (2010), proposed within the embodiment approach, which explains the interaction between processing action-related sentences and motor performance. Moreover, we speculated that the neural network model of Chersi et al. was also applicable to action-related Mandarin counterfactual comprehension.