Thursday, February 7, 2013

A backbone lever-arm effect enhances polymer mechanochemistry

Nature Chemistry





Polymer mechanochemistry can trigger a wide range of often unanticipated reactivity, but the focus of these systems typically falls on the structure of the mechanophore rather than the intervening polymer backbone. Now, it has been shown that a poly(norbornene) backbone has a substantial impact on a mechanochemical ring-opening reaction, despite having only a minor effect on the force-free reaction. The poly(norbornene) scaffold not only represents another tether for applying a force to a mechanophore, but here is shown to act as a ‘lever’, providing enhanced mechanical advantage relative to the poly(butadiene).



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