Fig. 9. A simple change in polymer backbone from poly(butadiene) (PB) to poly(norborne) (PNB) increases Δx by ∼0.3 Å in the case of gDCC mechanophores. The red highlighted portion of the backbone depicts how the connected atoms become misaligned with the direction of the pulling force in the case of PB, but remain aligned in the case of PNB. Note, not all gDCC mechanophores are adjacent as depicted.
