Autonomous Materials Systems University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Mechanics Meets Chemistry - New Way to Manipulate Matter

Links to our publication in the March 22, 2007, issue of Nature


Background, interpretation, and significance

Electrocyclic ring closing reactions are molecular rearrangements in which a cyclic structure is formed from a linear π system. Specifically, a new single bond is generated between the termini of the π system, and the product has two fewer π electrons. The converse process is known as electrocyclic ring opening. More...

Art


Video and Animation


Reference

Charles R. Hickenboth, Jeffrey S. Moore, Scott R. White,
Nancy R. Sottos, Jerome Baudry, Scott R. Wilson
"Biasing reaction pathways with mechanical force"
Nature, 446, 2007, pp. 423-427.


Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and The Petroleum Research Fund.

Autonomous Materials Systems - Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign