A range of water-immiscible commercially available Grubbs-type precatalysts can be used in ring-closing olefin metathesis reaction in high yields. The synthetic transformation is possible in pure water under ambient conditions. Sulfocalixarenes can help to boost the reactivity of the metathesis reaction by catalyst activation, improved mass transfer, and solubility of reactants in the aqueous reaction media. Additionally, the use of supramolecular additives allows lower catalyst loadings, but still high activity in pure water under aerobic conditions.
Keywords: C-C coupling; aqueous metathesis; supramolecular chemistry.