Force-selective mechanochemical reactions may be important for applications in polymer mechanochemistry, yet it is difficult to achieve such reactions. This paper reports that cis-N-phthalimidoaziridine incorporated into a macromolecular backbone undergoes migration of N-phthalimido group to afford imine under mechanochemical condition and not thermal one. The imine is further hydrolyzed by water bifurcating into amine and aldehyde. These structural transformations are confirmed by H-1 NMR and FT-IR spectroscopic analyses. Computational simulations are conducted for the aziridine mechanophore to propose the mechanism of reaction and define the substrate scope of reaction.
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