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Mechanochemistry

A reaction to stress

Chemists usually kick-start reactions with heat, light or electricity, but a far less common option is to use mechanical stress. It now seems that stress not only triggers reactions, but can also direct their course.

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Figure 1: Stress-induced bond cleavage.

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Rosen, B., Percec, V. A reaction to stress. Nature 446, 381–382 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/446381a

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