title: Combined Constant-Force and Constant-Velocity Single-Molecule Force Spectroscopy of the Conrotatory Ring Opening Reaction of Benzocyclobutene.
abstract: Single-molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) of multi-mechanophore polymers has been used to provide kinetic and mechanistic insights into mechanochemical reactions. Whereas biological systems have benefitted from force clamp spectroscopy, synthetic polymers have been studied primarily with constant-velocity methods. Here, force clamp SMFS is applied to the mechanically accelerated conrotatory ring opening of benzocyclobutene, and a comparison with constant-velocity SMFS extends the range of available rate-versus-force data and corroborates the use of constant-velocity SMFS to extract force dependencies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, 27708, USA.
authors.forename: Tatiana B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Kouznetsova
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and the James Franck Institute, The University of Chicago, 929 E 57th Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60637, USA.
authors.forename: Junpeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, 27708, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen L
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8810-0369
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Craig
keywords: atomic force microscopy; electrocyclic reactions; kinetics; mechanochemistry; polymers