2026 ACS Global Outstanding Mentor in Polymer Science and Engineering Awardee

CME PMSE International Team: University of Manchester – Lei Chen (Student) and Guillaume de Bo (Mentor)

Bio by Author: Prof. De Bo was born and raised in Brussels, Belgium. He graduated from the University of Louvain, Belgium (MSc 2004, and PhD 2009 with Prof. István Markó), where he also held his first postdoctoral appointment in the group of Profs J.F. Gohy and C.A. Fustin. He then moved to the UK to join the group of Prof. David A. Leigh, first in Edinburgh then in Manchester. He started his independent career in 2016 at the University of Manchester under the impulse of a Royal Society University Research Fellowship. He was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2021 and Professor in 2022. His work aims at controlling the reactivity of molecules under tension for application in synthetic chemistry, materials, and biology.

2026 CME NASA Symposium Abstract – 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

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.