Charles E. Diesendruck

Mechanochemistry is the use of mechanical force to drive chemical reactions. In polymeric materials, mechanical stress can lead to scission of covalent bonds, affecting the molecular weight of the chains and therefore the properties of the material. Our group studies:

1. New mechanically driven chemical transformations – we design molecules that, when incorporated into polymers, undergo productive chemical reactions under stress.
2. Design of polymer architectures that conduct mechanical stress to specific points in the polymer chains, creating new materials that are more resistant or susceptible to mechanical stress.
3. Design of new mechanoresponsive materials, utilizing mechanically driven chemical transformations.
4. The use of organic chemistry to create new polymer architectures that react to physicochemical stimuli.
5. The effect of polymer chemistry and architecture on the mechanical properties of materials, i.e., relation between nano (chemistry) and macro (mechanics).
6. Chemistry of quaternary ammonium salts – chemical stability, chiral properties, catalysis.

Post doc: University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, 2011-2014, doing research in the field of mechanically driven chemical reactions (mechanochemistry)

Ph.D: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 2007-2011, on the synthesis of bimetallic complexes and the physical organic chemistry of olefin-metathesis pre-catalysts.

Sabbatical: Faculty of Chemistry, Stanford University, 2022-2023, modeling of mechanochemical reactions

Awards:

2025 – Mirim and Ray Klein Prize for Excellence in Research

2023 – Rechler Prize for Excellence in Research

2021 – Crown Vanguard Award

2019 – The ICS Prize for Outstanding Young Scientist

2018 – Krill Prize

2018 – Blavatnik Award

1. Levy et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 7256-7260.  https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.9b01960
2. Galant et al. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2020, 1901806.  https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201901806
3. Galant et al. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2021, 2042-2046.   https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202010429
4. Zhang et al. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022, e202115325.  https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202115325
5.  Zhang et al. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2023, e202213980. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202213980
6.  Diesendruck, Nat. Chem. 2023, 1199-1201. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41557-023-01299-7
7.  Zhang et al. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2024, e202314781.  https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202314781
8. Zhang et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2023, e202314781 https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202314781
9.  Schwarz et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2025, e202412849 https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202414849
10. Mathur et al., J. Mater. Chem. A, 2025, 37063-37071 https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA05182G