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Review
. 2017 Jan 25;3(1):13-19.
doi: 10.1021/acscentsci.6b00277. Epub 2016 Dec 29.

Mechanochemistry: A Force of Synthesis

Jean-Louis Do  1 , Tomislav Friščić  1
Affiliations
Review

Mechanochemistry: A Force of Synthesis

Jean-Louis Do et al. ACS Cent Sci. .

Abstract

The past decade has seen a reawakening of solid-state approaches to chemical synthesis, driven by the search for new, cleaner synthetic methodologies. Mechanochemistry, i.e., chemical transformations initiated or sustained by mechanical force, has been advancing particularly rapidly, from a laboratory curiosity to a widely applicable technique that not only enables a cleaner route to chemical transformations but offers completely new opportunities in making and screening for molecules and materials. This Outlook provides a brief overview of the recent achievements and opportunities created by mechanochemistry, including access to materials, molecular targets, and synthetic strategies that are hard or even impossible to access by conventional means.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing financial interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) Milling jars of (left to right) PMMA, polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon), and stainless steel. (b) The η-scale expressed in μL/mg. (c) Effect of η and liquid dipole moment (μ) on appearance of cocrystal polymorphs I, II, and III in LAG cocrystallization of caffeine and anthranilic acid. Adapted with permission from ref (48). Copyright 2016 American Chemical Society.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Stepwise MOF formation observed in situ. (a) Synthesis of ZIFs, and (b) Zn-MOF-74, with images of the milling jar for each step. (c) Discovery of katsenite phase: time-resolved diffractogram with highlighted periods of existence of ZIF-8, kat, and dia frameworks. Symbol for mechanochemical reactivity in panels a and b proposed by Rightmire et al.
Scheme 1
Scheme 1. Mechanochemical Reactions Catalyzed by Metal Surfaces
(a) Huisgen coupling without a copper cocatalyst; (b) mechanochemical [2 + 1] cyclopropanation of alkenes catalyzed by silver foil; and (c) nickel-catalyzed [2 + 2 + 2 + 2] cycloaddition. Symbol for mechanochemical reactivity proposed by Rightmire et al..
Figure 3
Figure 3
Elusive molecules achieved by mechanochemistry: (a, b) the tris(allyl) aluminum complex prepared by the Hanusa group; (c) mechanochemically enabled synthesis of aryl N-thiocarbamoyltriazoles; and (d) synthesis of the “sterically inaccessible” adamantoid cyclophosphazene. Symbol for mechanochemical reactivity in panel d proposed by Rightmire et al.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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