The mechanical properties of cells and the extracellular environment they reside in are governed by a complex interplay of biopolymers. These biopolymers, which possess a wide range of stiffnesses, self-assemble into fibrous composite networks such as the cytoskeleton and extracellular matrix. They interact with each other both physically and chemically to create a highly responsive and adaptive mechanical environment that stiffens when stressed or strained. Here we show that hybrid networks of a synthetic mimic of biological networks and either stiff, flexible and semi-flexible components, even very low concentrations of these added components, strongly affect the network stiffness and/or its strain-responsive character. The stiffness (persistence length) of the second network, its concentration and the interaction between the components are all parameters that can be used to tune the mechanics of the hybrids. The equivalence of these hybrids with biological composites is striking.

The scope of Viedma ripening and temperature cycling with respect to chiral molecules has remained mostly limited to molecules with a single stereogenic center, while racemization proceeds through inversion at that particular stereocenter. In this article we demonstrate for the first time that atropisomers, chiral rotamers that possess an axis of chirality, can be successfully deracemized in the solid phase by either applying temperature cycling or Viedma ripening.

Viedma ripening is a process that combines abrasive grinding of a slurry of crystals with solution-phase racemization, resulting in solid-phase deracemization. One of the major disadvantages of Viedma ripening is that the desired compound needs to crystallize as a racemic conglomerate, accounting for only 5-10 % of all chiral molecules. Herein, we show that use of a chiral additive causes deracemization under conditions, in which the compound normally crystallizes as a racemic compound. Although this concerns a single example, it is envisioned that through this new approach the scope of Viedma ripening can be significantly expanded.