Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Heterogeneous Removal of Water-Soluble Ruthenium Olefin Metathesis Catalyst from Aqueous Media Via Host-Guest Interaction
Published on: August 23, 2018
From solution-phase to solid-phase enyne metathesis: crossover in the relative performance of two commonly used
Dominic E A Brittain1, B Lawrence Gray, Stuart L Schreiber
1Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Harvard University, 12 Oxford St, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Abstract:
A crossover in the ability of two distinct ruthenium-based metathesis pre-catalysts to effect the synthesis of dialkenylboronic esters in solution and on the solid-phase was observed. Specifically, while the Grubbs 2nd generation pre-catalyst 3 affords a greater degree of conversion to product than the Hoveyda-Grubbs pre-catalyst 2 in a solution-phase enyne-metathesis reaction, this trend is reversed in the solid-phase variant. Systematic investigation showed this trend to be general, regardless of variations in the homoallylic alcohol and alkynylboronic ester components of the reaction, as well as in the type of solid support employed. Experiments to determine a mechanistic hypothesis for this trend highlighted the significance of the ruthenium remaining bound to the substrate after metathetic rearrangement and found the presence of phosphine ligand to be detrimental to the success of the solid-phase reaction. Therefore, these results suggest an expanded role for phosphine-free pre-catalysts, such as 2, in challenging solid-phase metathesis reactions.
Related Concept Videos
Olefin Metathesis Polymerization: Overview
Ruthenium-based Grubbs catalyst is the most commonly used catalyst for olefin metathesis polymerization. Grubbs catalyst consists of a...
Reduction of Alkenes: Asymmetric Catalytic Hydrogenation
The metal catalyst used can be either heterogeneous or homogeneous. When hydrogenation of an alkene generates a chiral center, a pair of enantiomeric products is expected to form. However, an enantiomeric excess of one of the products can be facilitated using an enantioselective reaction or an...
Reduction of Alkynes to cis-Alkenes: Catalytic Hydrogenation
Like alkenes, alkynes can be reduced to alkanes in the presence of transition metal catalysts such as Pt, Pd, or Ni. The reaction involves two sequential syn additions of hydrogen via a cis-alkene intermediate.
Heterogeneous Catalysis
Olefin Metathesis Polymerization: Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization (ROMP)
Olefin Metathesis Polymerization: Acyclic Diene Metathesis (ADMET)
Similar to cross-metathesis, ADMET also involves the formation of metallacyclobutane intermediate by [2+2] cycloaddition of one of the double bonds of a terminal diene with...

