A review of the mechanisms of the olefin metathesis reaction

Abstract

During the olefin metathesis reaction carbon-carbon double bonds are broken and rearranged to give a redistribution of alkilydene groups. A review of the different mechanistic approaches is given under the headings: The pairwise mechanism; The metal carbene chain mechanism with reference to the formation of the carbene and metallacyclobutane intermediate; The reactions of the olefins; and The degradation of unsaturated polymers.