{
  "abstract": "Mechanochemistry uses mechanical forces to drive chemical transformations, offering an energy-efficient alternative to traditional thermal, optical, or electrical reaction pathways. At the single-molecule scale, controlling structural changes with mechanical stimuli is fundamental for developing nanoscale devices and understanding chemical reactivity. In conventional single-molecule reactions driven by light or electrical currents, energy is supplied through one-way excitation processes, requiring the single-event energy input to exceed the activation energy barrier. Here we show that mechanically driven single-molecule reactions can bypass this limitation, proceeding with a net energy cost below the activation energy. By using atomic force microscopy to induce the structural inversion of individual, bowl-shaped sumanene molecules on a gold surface, we measure the mechanical energy spent during the transformation. The net energy cost is significantly lower than the theoretical activation energy. This sub-barrier reaction occurs because attractive van der Waals forces from the mesoscopic tip body stabilize the transition state more effectively than the final state. Our findings demonstrate a distinct energetic mechanism in mechanochemistry, highlighting alternative strategies for energy-efficient molecular manipulation.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 7,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Kota Iwata",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0899-927X"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ikutaro Hamada",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-5112-2452"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ranmaru Kuno"
    },
    {
      "name": "Taku Enomoto"
    },
    {
      "name": "Ryu Kuroki"
    },
    {
      "name": "Hidehiro Sakurai",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-5783-4151"
    },
    {
      "name": "Yoshiaki Sugimoto",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3346-1586"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/23dfebj4s3dza.bib",
  "cited_by": 1,
  "doi": "10.1038/s41467-026-78541-6",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13694703",
  "id": "23dfebj4s3dza",
  "issns": [
    "2041-1723"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-78541-6",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "3107|Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7213512105",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-78541-6.pdf",
  "pmcid": "PMC13694703",
  "pmid": "42919827",
  "published": "2026-10-23",
  "publisher": "Springer Science and Business Media LLC",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/23dfebj4s3dza.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:39Z",
      "native_id": "10.1038/s41467-026-78541-6",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-78541-6"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:33Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42919827",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42919827"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "openalex:3107|Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications",
      "subfield": "amo"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Force-driven single-molecule transformations through tip-mediated stabilization of transition states",
  "title_text": "Force-driven single-molecule transformations through tip-mediated stabilization of transition states",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:20:33Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/23dfebj4s3dza",
  "venue": "Nature Communications",
  "versions": []
}