Synthesis and catalytic activity of ruthenium-indenylidene complexes for olefin metathesis. Microscale experiments for the undergraduate inorganic or organometallic laboratories

These experiments can be performed with confidence by undergraduate chemistry students. All of the experiments can be accomplished with commercially available reagents, standard glassware, and a nitrogen line. We have successfully performed the experiments over three lab periods in our inorganic laboratory course, although a two-week experiment is plausible if the synthesis of 1b and the RCM experiments are confined to a single lab period. Noteworthy is the fact that during the course of our investigation, complex 1b became commercially available. Thus, the RCM experiment alone utilizing complex 1b can be easily adopted in an organic or organometallic laboratory. Finally, the experiments outlined are very reliable. Isolated yields for the syntheses of complexes 1a and 1b are well above 50% and the catalytic activity of 1b is consistently high.