Di(ethylene glycol) vinyl ether: a highly efficient deactivating reagent for olefin metathesis catalysts

A highly efficient method for deactivating commonly used olefin metathesis catalysts is described. Inexpensive and commercially available di(ethylene glycol) vinyl ether is found to quench both first- and second-generation Grubbs’ carbenes in less than 10 min at room temperature. The resulting ruthenium byproducts are readily removed by silica gel purification.