Thermomorphic polyethylene-supported olefin metathesis catalysts

Christopher Hobbs; Yun-Chin Yang; Johnny Ling; Sally Nicola; Haw-Lih Su; Hassan S Bazzi; David E Bergbreiter

doi:10.1021/ol2014329

Thermomorphic polyethylene-supported olefin metathesis catalysts

Org Lett. 2011 Aug 5;13(15):3904-7. doi: 10.1021/ol2014329. Epub 2011 Jun 28.

Authors

Christopher Hobbs¹, Yun-Chin Yang, Johnny Ling, Sally Nicola, Haw-Lih Su, Hassan S Bazzi, David E Bergbreiter

Affiliation

¹ Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, P.O. Box 30012, College Station, Texas 77842-3012, USA.

PMID: 21707117
DOI: 10.1021/ol2014329

Abstract

The preparation of polyethylene-oligomer (PE(olig))-supported N-heterocyclic carbene ligands (NHCs) and their Ru complexes is described. These complexes are structurally analogous to their low molecular weight counterparts and can serve as thermomorphic, recoverable/recyclable ring-closing metathesis (RCM) catalysts. Because of the insolubility of PE(olig)-supported species at 25 °C, such complexes can perform homogeneous RCM reactions at 65 °C and, upon cooling, precipitate as solids. This allows for their quantitative separation from solutions of products.