Does direction matter in breaking a bond?
A possible real-world example of directional force use may be apparent from the commercial application of so-called magnetizers (see discussion here).
I once experimented with a small inexpensive one and it appears to accelerate select reactions.
A commercial example for reducing the amount of chlorinating agent required in public swimming pools in England demonstrated success to reduce scale build-up, moderate pH and increase available chlorine in a pool, employing magnetic field treatments here.
Some discussion details on how magnetic fields may potentially impact chemical reactions per comments posted previously on StackExchange.
An important point concerns radical based reactions, which per chlorine-based chemistry in sunlight treated swimming pools, is likely extensive and may be potentially impacted. This could particularly alter pool chemistry especially surrounding the fate of the chlorine radical, where an alteration of spins along with a possible decrease in the reverse recombination reaction to Cl2 via the normal reactions:
$\ce{Cl2 + hv -&gt; •Cl + •Cl}$
$\ce{ •Cl + •Cl -&gt; Cl2}$
where the above reaction is impaired due to spin changes by magnetic fields, resulting in more chlorine radicals. The latter can slowly react with water, for example, importantly producing the powerful hydroxyl radical:
$\ce{•Cl + H2O &lt;=&gt; HCl + •OH}$
Source: See Table l in &quot;Photochemistry of HCl and Other Minor Constituents in the Atmosphere of Venus&quot; by Prinn, R.G. as an example.
More detail on mechanics is provided by this source, to quote:

Radical pairs in chemical reactions are known to respond to magnetic fields. This involves pairs of transient radicals being created simultaneously, such that the two electron spins, one on each radical, are correlated. Their chemical fate is largely dictated by weak magnetic interactions, so that you get radicals with unpaired electron spins either antiparallel (singlet state) or parallel (a triplet state).
Even though the interactions of electron spins with an applied field is very weak, there is enough time to affect the balance between singlet and triplet radical pair states and therefore to change the yields of the products formed from them,...