Pre‐Activation as a Route for Tuning the Kinetics of Mechanochemical Transformations

Learning to control reaction kinetics is essential for translating any chemical technology into real‐world application. Based on time‐resolved in situ powder X‐ray diffraction data, we demonstrate the opportunity to tune mechanochemical reaction rates through the pre‐activation of the starting reagents. For three model co‐crystal systems, the pre‐activation of the most stable reagent yields up to a ca 10‐fold increase in the reaction rate, whilst negligible kinetic enhancement is seen when the less stable reagent is pre‐activated. Moreover, we demonstrate how the polymorphic outcome of mechano‐co‐crystallization is also sensitive to pre‐activation of the starting material. Our results suggest that reproducibility of mechanochemical processes requires detailed understanding over the origin and history of reagent powders, whilst providing a new conceptual framework to design and control mechanochemical reactions.