Guillaume De Bo; Department of Chemistry, University of Manchester, UK

"Macromolecular devices for force-controlled release and catalysis"

Mechanical force is a formidable, and relatively unexplored, source of energy that, with its ability to distort, bend and stretch chemical bonds, is unique in the way it activates chemical reactions. The precise control of this force could revolutionise how we build and rearrange molecules and change the way we think about chemical transformations. Pulling both ends of a macromolecule apart creates highly directional strain with its highest intensity in the middle of the chain and, in polymer mechanochemistry, the force is transduced to force-sensitive moieties (mechanophores) embedded within the polymeric backbone. We present a new family of macromolecular devices that harness mechanical force to trigger controlled release and catalysis, paving the way for advanced self-healing materials.1-7

Bio
Guillaume is Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Manchester. His work aims at controlling the reactivity of molecules under tension for application in synthetic chemistry, materials, and biology.
He graduated from the University of Louvain (MSc 2004, and PhD 2009) and started his independent career in 2016 under the impulse of a prestigious Royal Society University Research Fellowship (2016-2023). He was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2021 and Professor in 2022. He is the recipient of several awards including the 2021 Bob Hay Lectureship and the 2025 ACS Macro Letters/Biomacromolecules/Macromolecules Young Investigator Award. He was awarded an ERC Consolidator grant in 2022 and was named as one of the 50 Scientists that Inspire by Cell Press in 2024.

Selected recent publications
(1) Ieong, A.; De Bo, G. ACS Catal. 2026, 16 (3), 2891–2896.
(2) Chen, L.; De Bo, G. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2025, 64 (37), e202512698.
(3) Chen, L.; De Bo, G. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2025, 64 (37), e202511039.
(4) Wu, M.; De Bo, G. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2025, 64 (13), e202501499.
(5) Chen, L.; De Bo, G. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024, 146 (24), 16381–16384.
(6) Chen, L.; Nixon, R.; De Bo, G. Nature 2024, 628, 320.
(7) Nixon, R.; De Bo, G. Nat. Chem. 2020, 12 (9), 826–831.