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Synfacts 2010(6): 0656-0656  
DOI: 10.1055/s-0029-1219987
Synthesis of Materials and Unnatural Products
© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart ˙ New York

You Break It, You Fix It

Contributor(s): Timothy M. Swager, Joel Batson
M. J. Kryger, M. T. Ong, S. A. Odom, N. R. Sottos, S. R. White, T. J. Martinez, J. S. Moore*
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Stanford University, USA
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Publication History

Publication Date:
20 May 2010 (online)

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Significance

Parachute cords, climbing ropes, and smart coatings for bridges that change color when overstressed are several possible uses for force-sensitive polymers, known as mechanophores. Here, the authors are able to demonstrate the mechanical cleavage of a dicyano-substituted cyclobutane ring to produce reactive alkenes via sonication.