A modular approach to mechanically gated photoswitching with color-tunable molecular force probes† † Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Experimental details, synthetic procedures, GPC chromatograms, DFT calculations, photographs, UV-vis and NMR spectra. See DOI: 10.1039/d1sc02890a

ABSTRACT: Molecular force probes conveniently report on mechanical stress and/or strain in polymers through straightforward visual cues. Unlike conventional mechanochromic mechanophores, the mechanically gated photoswitching strategy decouples mechanochemical activation from the ultimate chromogenic response, enabling the mechanical history of a material to be recorded and read on-demand using light. Here we report a completely redesigned, highly modular mechanophore platform for mechanically gated photoswitching that offers a robust, accessible synthesis and late stage diversification through Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions to precisely tune the photophysical properties of the masked diarylethene (DAE) photoswitch. Using solution-phase ultrasonication, the reactivity of a small library of fun

SUBMITTER: Barber R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8442728 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature