Engineering applications of synthetic polymers are widespread due to their availability,
processability, low density, and diversity of mechanical properties (Figure 1a). Despite their …

The purpose of this critical review is to introduce the reader to an increasingly important
class of phenomena: enormous changes in rates of simple chemical reactions within …

Maleimide–thiol reactions are widely used to produce protein–polymer conjugates for
therapeutics. However, maleimide–thiol adducts are unstable in vivo or in the presence of …

Mechanophores can be used to produce strain-dependent covalent chemical responses in
polymeric materials, including stress strengthening, stress sensing and network remodelling …

Single-molecule force spectroscopy is used to observe the irreversible extension of a gem-
dibromocyclopropane (g DBC)-functionalized polybutadiene under tension, a process akin …

Mechanochemical reactions that lead to an increase in polymer contour length have the
potential to serve as covalent synthetic mimics of the mechanical unfolding of noncovalent …

In the past five years, the field of covalent polymer mechanochemistry has experienced a
renaissance. Once limited to the simple scission of polymer chains, mechanical force can …

In recent years single molecule manipulation techniques have improved to the extent that
measurements of the mechanical strength of single proteins can now be undertaken …

Molecular recognition, also known as biorecognition, is the heart of all biological
interactions. Originating from protein stretching experiments, dynamic force spectroscopy …

Single‐molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) of multi‐mechanophore polymers has been
used to provide kinetic and mechanistic insights into mechanochemical reactions. Whereas …