Caged AIEgens: Multicolor and White Emission Triggered by Mechanical Activation

Aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) that respond to mechanical force are increasingly used as force probes, memory devices, and advanced security systems. Most of the known mechanisms to modulate mechanoresponsive AIEgens have been based on changes in aggregation states, involving only physical alterations. Instances that employ covalent bond cleavage are still rare. We have developed a novel mechanochemical uncaging strategy to unveil AIEgens with diverse emission characteristics using engineered norborn-2-en-7-one (NEO) mechanophores. These