A series of ruthenium(II) ester-carbene complexes as olefin metathesis initiators: metathesis of acrylates

A series of ester-carbene complexes was synthesized. These complexes were found to be highly active for the metathesis of olefinic substrates, including acrylates and trisubstituted olefins. In addition, the ester-carbene moiety is thermodynamically high in energy. As a result, these complexes react to ring-open cyclohexene by metathesis to alleviate the thermodynamic strain of the ester-carbene ligand.