Mechanochemical Release of N‐heterocyclic Carbenes from Flex‐Activated Mechanophores

We have discovered a new flex-activated mechanophore that releases an N -heterocyclic carbene (NHC) under mechanical load. The mechanophore design is based upon NHC-carbodiimide (NHC-CDI) adducts, and demonstrates an important first-step toward functional flex-activated designs. Since the flex-activation is non-destructive to the main polymer chains, the material can be subjected to multiple compression cycles to achieve iterative increases in the activation percentage of mechanophores. Two different NHC structures were demonstrated, signifying the potential modularity of the mechanophore design.