Mechanochemical unzipping of insulating polyladderene to semiconducting polyacetylene

Abstract

Forcing polymers to be semiconductors In mechanochemistry, the application of force to a polymer is used to pry open specific chemical bonds. Chen et al. leveraged this technique to produce semiconducting blocks of polyacetylene in an insulating precursor. Ring-opening metathesis polymerization tethered together a series of fused four-carbon rings, reminiscent of the unusual ladderane membrane lipids of anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria. Subsequently, sonication unzipped these strained rings into alternating C=C double bonds, thereby extending π-conjugation along the polymer backbone. Science , this issue p. 475