Biewend, M., et al. Soft Matter 2020, 16 (5), 1137-1141, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C9SM02185J.
We report on copper(i)-bis(N-heterocyclic carbene)s (NHC) for quantitative stress-sensing, embedded within polyurethane networks, triggering a fluorogenic copper(i) azide alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) of 8-azido-2-naphtol and 3-hydroxy phenylacetylene. A completely transparent, force responsive poly(urethane) material is generated, allowing a quantification of the applied stress. Reproduced with permission of The Royal Society of Chemistry.