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Updated: Feb 16, 2026

The Synthesis, Characterization and Reactivity of a Series of Ruthenium N-triphosPh Complexes
Published on: April 10, 2015
Evidence for Dynamic Chemical Kinetics at Individual Molecular Ruthenium Catalysts
Quinn T Easter1, Suzanne A Blum1
1Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697-2025, USA.
Abstract:
Catalytic cycles are typically depicted as possessing time-invariant steps with fixed rates. Yet the true behavior of individual catalysts with respect to time is unknown, hidden by the ensemble averaging inherent to bulk measurements. Evidence is presented for variable chemical kinetics at individual catalysts, with a focus on ring-opening metathesis polymerization catalyzed by the second-generation Grubbs' ruthenium catalyst. Fluorescence microscopy is used to probe the chemical kinetics of the reaction because the technique possesses sufficient sensitivity for the detection of single chemical reactions. Insertion reactions in submicron regions likely occur at groups of many (not single) catalysts, yet not so many that their unique kinetic behavior is ensemble averaged.
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