Cross-metathesis, cleavage reaction

As stated above, olefin metathesis is in principle reversible, because all steps of the catalytic cycle are reversible. In preparatively useful transformations, the equilibrium is shifted to one side. This is most commonly achieved by removal of a volatile alkene, mostly ethene, from the reaction mixture. An obvious and well-established way to classify olefin metathesis reactions is depicted in Scheme 2. Depending on the structure of the olefin, metathesis may occur either inter- or intramolecularly. Intermolecular metathesis of two alkenes is called cross metathesis (CM) (if the two alkenes are identical, as in the case of the Phillips triolefin process, the term self metathesis is sometimes used). The intermolecular metathesis of an a,co-diene leads to polymeric structures and ethene this mode of metathesis is called acyclic diene metathesis (ADMET). Intramolecular metathesis of these substrates gives cycloalkenes and ethene (ring-closing metathesis, RCM) the reverse reaction is the cleavage of a cyclo-... 

Two repeated exposures of resin 38 to the catalyst (9% mol) for 18 h in dichloromethane at room temperature afforded the expected allyl lactoside in an encouraging isolated yield of 81% from resin 35 (90% per step). Traces of dimerized compounds resulting from cross-metathesis were detected as the only side products. Extension of the oligosaccharide chain was subsequently performed first by deacetylation (excess NaOMe in 4/1 CH2Cl2/MeOH at r.t.) and glycosylation with known lactosyl donor 40 in conditions similar to those mentioned above. Cleavage was performed twice as described above, but with a reduced reaction time of 6 h in this case tetrasaccharide 42 was isolated in 51% yield from 35 (84% per step). No dimerized products were detected. 

Cross-metathesis, however, is usually a nonselective reaction. Transformation of two terminal alkenes in the presence of a metathesis catalyst, for instance, can give six possible products (three pairs of cis/trans isomers) since self-metathesis of each alkene and cross-metathesis occur in parallel. It has been observed, however, that terminal olefins when cross-metathesized with styrene yield trans-P-alkylstyrenes with high selectivity.5 A useful synthetic application of cross-metathesis is the cleavage of internal alkenes with ethylene called ethenolysis to yield terminal olefins ... 

The chemoselectivity provided by the solid support in the cross-metathesis reaction is evident in ene-ene metathesis reactions, as both olefins are capable of a homodimerization reaction. The Mata laboratory has devoted significant effort toward the understanding and development of cross-metathesis reactions on a solid support. To probe the limits of the reaction, aliphatic, aryl, and acryloyl alkenes 8,11, and 12 were immobilized and reacted with a variety of soluble olefins 13-16 from different classifications based on homodimerization potential (Scheme 6.2). For example, the immobilized acrylate 8 was reacted with several soluble olefins to form the immobilized coupling product 9. Subsequent cleavage with TFA and esterification with diazomethane delivered the esters 10. Other immobilized alkenes explored in the same process were 11 and 12. Among other olefins, they were reacted with the soluble alkenes 13-16. Modest to good yields (shown in parentheses) were obtained, but, most importantly, no dimerization of the immobilized alkenes 8,11, and 12 was observed, and undesired homocoupling products of the alkenes 13-16 in solution were easily washed away in the workup step. 

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