ROMP metathesis reaction

Scheme 2 Different modes of the olefin metathesis reaction cross metathesis (CM), ringclosing metathesis (RCM), ring-opening metathesis (ROM), acyclic diene metathesis polymerization (ADMET), and ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP)...

In the case of other Group 6 metals, the polymerization of olefins has attracted little attention. Some molybdenum(VI) and tungsten(VI) complexes containing bulky imido- and alkoxo-ligands have been mainly used for metathesis reactions and the ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of norbornene or related olefins [266-268]. Tris(butadiene) complexes of molybdenum ) and tungsten(O) are air-stable and sublimable above 100°C [269,270]. At elevated temperature, they showed catalytic activity for the polymerization of ethylene [271]. 

In virtually all other W(CHR)(NAr)(OR )2 complexes only the syn alkylidene ro-tamer is observed readily [63]. It was not clear at the time why rotamers could be observed in this particular case and why they interconverted readily. Later it was shown that the reactivities of certain syn and anti species could differ by many orders of magnitude and that the rates of their interconversion also could differ by many orders of magnitude as OR was changed from O-t-Bu to OC-Me(CF3)2. Therefore in any system of this general type two different alkylidene rotamers could be accessible (although both may not be observable), either by rotation about the M=C bond, or as a consequence of the metathesis reaction itself. The presence of syn and anti rotamers further complicates the metathesis reaction at a molecular level, and at least in ROMP reactions (see below) in important ways. The apparent ease of interconversion of syn and anti rotamers in phenoxide complexes could be an important feature of systems in which access to both syn and anti rotamers must be assured (see later). 

Since one of the substrates is a cyclic alkene there is now the possibility of ring-opening metathesis polymerisation (ROMP) occurring which would result in the formation of polymeric products 34 (n >1). Since polymer synthesis is outside the scope of this review, only alkene cross-metathesis reactions resulting in the formation of monomeric cross-coupled products (for example 30) will be discussed here. 

The investigations directed at the synthesis of thymine-substituted polymers demonstrate that the type of functional groups displayed by nucleic acid bases are compatible with ROMP. Moreover, the application of MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry to the analysis of these polymers adds to the battery of tools available for the characterization of ROMP and its products. The utility of this approach for the creation of molecules with the desired biological properties, however, is still undetermined. It is unknown whether these thymine-substituted polymers can hybridize with nucleic acids. Moreover, ROMP does not provide a simple solution to the controlled synthesis of materials that display specific sequences composed of all five common nucleic acid bases. Nevertheless, the demonstration that metathesis reactions can be conducted with such substrates suggests that perhaps neobiopolymers that function as nucleic acid analogs can be synthesized by such processes. 

The final stereochemistry of a metathesis reaction is controlled by the thermodynamics, as the reaction will continue as long as the catalyst is active and eventually equilibrium will be reached. For 1,2-substituted alkenes this means that there is a preference for the trans isomer the thermodynamic equilibrium at room temperature for cis and trans 2-butene leads to a ratio 1 3. For an RCM reaction in which small rings are made, clearly the result will be a cis product, but for cross metathesis, RCM for large rings, ROMP and ADMET both cis and trans double bonds can be made. The stereochemistry of the initially formed product is determined by the permanent ligands on the metal catalyst and the interactions between the substituents at the three carbon atoms in the metallacyclic intermediate. Cis reactants tend to produce more cis products and trans reactants tend to give relatively more trans products this is especially pronounced when one bulky substituent is present as in cis and trans 4-methyl-2-pentene [35], Since the transition states will resemble the metallacyclobutane intermediates we can use the interactions in the latter to explain these results. 

Two observations initiated a strong motivation for the preparation of indenylidene-ruthenium complexes via activation of propargyl alcohols and the synthesis of allenylidene-ruthenium intermediates. The first results from the synthesis of the first indenylidene complexes VIII and IX without observation of the expected allenylidene intermediate [42-44] (Schemes 8.7 and 8.8), and the initial evidence that the well-defined complex IX was an efficient catalyst for alkene metathesis reactions [43-44]. The second observation concerned the direct evidence that the well-defined stable allenylidene ruthenium(arene) complex Ib rearranged intramo-lecularly into the indenylidene-ruthenium complex XV via an acid-promoted process [22, 23] (Scheme 8.11) and that the in situ prepared [33] or isolated [34] derivatives XV behaved as efficient catalysts for ROMP and RCM reactions. 

Despite the remarkable success of olefin metathesis catalysts in organic applications, one major challenge that remains is the diastereomeric control of olefin geometry. Olefin stereoselectivity is an issue in all metathesis reactions. However, prior to the widespread use of CM processes, it was only pertinent to the RGM of large rings (>8 carbons) and in the backbone structure of ROMP-derived polymers. 

SCHEME 1. Types of alkene and alkyne metathesis reactions. DBC, double bond cleavage TBC, triple bond cleavage ADMET, acyclic diene metathesis RCM ring-closing metathesis ROMP ring-opening metathesis polymerization... 

The ROMP of [2.2]paracyclophane-l,9-diene (128) yields poly(p-phenylenevinylene) (129) as an insoluble yellow fluorescent powder. Soluble copolymers can be made by the ROMP of 128 in the presence of an excess of cyclopentene387, cycloocta-1,5-diene388 or cyclooctene389. The UV/vis absorption spectra of the copolymers with cyclooctene show separate peaks for sequences of one, two and three p-phenylene-vinylene units at 290, 345 and about 390 nm respectively, with a Bernoullian distribution. The formation of the odd members of this series must involve dissection of the two halves of the original monomer units by secondary metathesis reactions. 

In an effort to recover and recycle the ionic precursor Q, two strategies have been tested in RCM of diallyltosylamide and ROMP of norbornene (1) the catalytic precursor has been supported on a polystyrene polymer [ 105,106] and (2) the metathesis reaction has been carried out in ionic liquids [107,108]. 

Metathesis of alkenes is essentially a class of reactions where an interchange of C atoms between pairs of double bonds takes place. A few representative examples are shown by the reactions listed in Fig. 7.10. The industrial use of metathesis reactions so far has been limited mainly to exchange metathesis (Fig. 7.10, top, backward reaction) as in the SHOP process, and ring-open metathesis polymerization (ROMP). As already mentioned (Section 7.5), Vas-tenamer is a polymer made by Hulls by ROMP from cyclooctene. Similarly, the polymer from norborene by ROMP is manufactured by CdF Chemie and is sold by the trade name of Norsorex . 

Ring opening metathesis polymerization, which has been known since the discovery of the alkene metathesis reaction, has been given the acronym ROMP in recent years. In fact, the ROMP reaction was the first observation made in alkene metathesis chemistry, while the discovery of the exchange reaction in equation (1) actually occurred later. Acychc diene metathesis (ADMET) polymerization (equation 3) has only recently been shown to be a viable method for polymer synthesis, and it has been termed ADMET polymerization. ROMP reactions are driven by the release of ring strain from the monomer, while ADMET polymerization is driven by a shift in the equilibrium caused by the removal of one of the reaction products. 

More recent developments in the mechanistic aspects of the alkene metathesis reaction include the observation that the alkene coordinates to the metal carbene complex prior to the formation of the metallacyclobutane complex. Thns a 2 - - 2 addition reaction of the alkene to the carbene is very unlikely, and a vacant coordination site appears to be necessary for catalytic activity. It has also been shown that the metal carbene complex can exist in different rotameric forms (equation 11) and that the two rotamers can have different reactivities toward alkenes. " The latter observation may explain why similar ROMP catalysts can produce polymers that have very different stereochemistries. Finally, the synthesis of a well-defined Ru carbene complex (equation 12) that is a good initiator for ROMP reactions suggests that carbenes are probably the active species in catalysts derived from the later transition elements. ... 

The ROMP reaction is a special example of the alkene metathesis reaction as shown in equation (2), and the mechanism of the ROMP reaction is shown in Scheme 3. The first step in the reaction involves coordination of the substrate... 

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