A team from the Craig, Kulik, and Johnson labs report the mechanochemically coupled generation of hydrogen flouride (HF) from alkoxy-gem-difluorocyclopropane (gDFC) mechanophores derived from difluorocarbene addition to enol ethers. This latent source of HF resides within a polymer until released in response to a mechanical signal, at which point it be converted in situ to a flouride salt for use in self-immolative polymers, remodeled siloxane elastomers, vitrimer alteration, and degradable polymers.
