Norsorex, synthesis

Further important industrial applications of olefin metathesis include the synthesis of 3,3-dimethyl-l-butene ( neohexene , intermediate for the production of musk perfume) from ethene and 2,4,4-trimethyl-2-pentene, the manufacture of a,co-dienes from ethene and cycloalkenes (reversed RCM), and the ROMP of cyclooctene and norbomene to Vestenamer and Norsorex , respectively. 

Apart from the synthesis of such simple compounds, far more complex entities in the form of high molecular weight polymers reflect the bulk of current metathesis applications. A representative example along these lines is the synthesis of the ring-opened metathesis polymer 22 of norbomene (20) which proceeds as shown in Scheme 7b. Over 45,000 tons of this polymer are produced annually by this, so called, Norsorex process." Among different potential precursors for ROMP, norbomene is particularly easy to convert into polymers because the metathesis relieves the strain of the ring system. Moreover, living norbomene polymer (with the carbene still in place as in 21) can become a scaffold... 

SCHEME 9.33 Synthesis of Norsorex using ring opening Metathesis polymerization. 

The industrial applications of metathesis in SHOP, FEAST, and for the synthesis of polymers such as Vestenamer and Norsorex have already been discussed. The exquisite controls over the structures and... 

---