Evaluation of an olefin metathesis pre-catalyst with a bulky and electron-rich N-heterocyclic carbene

Abstract

The commercially-available metathesis pre-catalyst M23 has been evaluated alongside new complex [RuCl2((3-phenyl)indenylidene)(PPh3)(SIPrOMe)] (1), which bears a para-methoxy-substituted N-heterocyclic carbene ligand. Several model metathesis reactions could be conducted using only parts-per-million levels of ruthenium catalyst. The effects of the different NHC ligands on reactivity have been explored.