Polymeric materials that convert local fleeting signals into global macroscopic responsesElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Synthetic procedures, characterization data, experimental details, supporting figures, and tables of data. See DOI: 10.1039/c5sc00701a

We report a general design strategy for creating polymeric materials that are capable of providing global, macroscopic changes in their properties in response to specific local and fleeting stimuli. In a proof-of-concept demonstration, a single polymer is used, yet it enables selective responses to specific stimuli, and then internally drives a macroscopic change in the material (even in locations not exposed to the stimulus), where the magnitude of change is independent of the intensity of the applied stimulus. Polymers that support self-propagating reactions are used to create materials that change global wetting properties in response to specific fleeting, local stimuli.