Mechanochemistry: the mechanical activation of covalent bonds.

Regarding the activation of chemical reactions, today’s chemist is used to thinking in terms of thermochemistry, electrochemistry, and photochemistry, which is reflected in the organization and content of the standard physical chemistry textbooks. The fourth way of chemical activation, mechanochemistry, is usually less well-known. The purpose of the present review is to give a survey of the classical works in mechanochemistry and put the key mechanochemical phenomena into perspective with recent results from atomic force microscopy and quantum molecular dynamics simulations. A detailed historical account on the development of mechanochemistry, with an emphasis on the mechanochemistry of solids, was recently given by Boldyrev and Tkáčová.1 The first written document of a mechanochemical reaction is found in a book by Theophrastus of Ephesus (371-286 B.C.), a student of Aristotle, “De Lapidibus” or “On stones”. If native cinnabar is rubbed in a brass mortar with a brass pestle in the presence of vinegar, metallic mercury is obtained. The mechanochemical reduction probably follows the reaction:1-3 * To whom correspondence should be addressed. Telephone: ++49-89-289-13417. Fax: ++49-89-289-13416. E-mail: [email protected] (M.K.B.); Telephone: ++49-89-12651417. Fax: ++49-89-1265-1480. E-mail: clausen-schaumann@ fhm.edu (H.C.-S.). † Technische Universität München. ‡ Institut für Strahlenschutz. § Current address: Munich University of Applied Sciences. HgS + Cu f Hg + CuS (1) Volume 105, Number 8