Ruthenium vinyl carbene intermediates in enyne metathesis

This review provides an overview of ruthenium vinyl carbene reactivity as it relates to enyne metathesis. Methods for the synthesis of metathesis-active and metathesis-inactive complexes are also summarized. Some of the early hypotheses about vinyl carbene intermediates in enyne metatheses were tested in the arena of synthetic chemistry and subsequently led to mechanistic studies. In these two areas, studies from the author's labs are described. There are still many unresolved questions in enyne metathesis that trace back to vinyl carbene reactivity. Hopefully this review will stimulate further investigation into vinyl carbene reactivity which should further refine our understanding of catalytic enyne metathesis. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.