Ruthenium complex-catalyzed highly selective co-oligomerization of alkenes

Abstract

Ruthenium complex-catalyzed reactions often require highly qualified tuning of reaction conditions with substrates to attain high yield and selectivity of the products. In this review, our strategies for achieving characteristic ruthenium complex-catalyzed co-oligomerization of different alkenes are disclosed: 1) The codimerization of 2-norbornenes with acrylic compounds by new ruthenium catalyst systems of RuCl3(tpy)/Zn [tpy = 2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridine] or [RuCl2(η 6-C 6H6)]2/Zn in alcohols, 2) A novel synthesis of 2-alkylidenetetrahydrofurans from dihydrofurans and acrylates by zerovalent ruthenium catalysts, such as Ru(η4-cod)(η6-cot) [cod = 1,5-cyclooctadiene, cot = 1,3,5-cyclooctatriene] and Ru(η 6-cot)(η2-dmfm)2 [dmfm = dimethyl fumarate], 3) Regio- and stereoselective synthesis of enamides by Ru(η6-cot) (η2-dmfm)2-catalyzed codimerization of N-vinylamides with alkenes, and 4) Unusual head-to-head dimerization of styrenes and linear codimerization of styrenes with ethylene by Ru(η6-cot) (η2-dmfm)2 catalyst in the presence of primary alcohols.