A. Furstner et al., Ruthenium carbene complexes with N,N '-bis(mesityl) imidazol-2-ylidene ligands: RCM catalysts of extended scope, J ORG CHEM, 65(7), 2000, pp. 2204-2207
The ruthenium carbene complexes 3a,b bearing imidazol-2-ylidene ligands con
stitute excellent precatalysts for ring-closing metathesis (RCM) reactions
allowing the formation of tri- and tetrasubstituted cycloalkenes. They also
apply to annulations that are beyond the scope of the standard Grubbs carb
ene 1 as well as to ring-closing reactions of acrylic acid derivatives even
if the resulting alpha,beta-unsaturated lactones (or lactams) are tri- or
tetrasubstituted. The reactivity of 3a was found to be highly dependent on
the reaction medium: particularly high reaction rates are observed in tolue
ne, although this solvent also leads to an increased tendency of the cataly
st to isomerize the double bonds of the substrates.