Olerin metathesis of amine-containing systems: Beyond the current consensus

Olefin metathesis is one of the most powerful synthetic tool to access amine-containing heterocycles and alkaloids. A major drawback associated with the use of amines concerns their ability to coordinate to metal-alkylidene complexes and to interfere unproductively with catalytic activity. Based on literature precedents, it has been established as a dogma that efficient metathesis reactions are suppressed in the presence of basic amines and that such substrates must invariably be deactivated by conversion of the amines to the corresponding carbamates or ammonium salts. However, an increasing number of examples of amine-containing compounds that are good substrates for metathesis is being reported in the literature. How can this non-classical reactivity be rationalized and exploited? The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of successful metathesis reactions performed with amine-containing compounds in order to allow some guidelines to be formulated. A special emphasis is placed on the different parameters that may influence the outcome of the reaction such as steric effects, amine basicity, and the nature of the catalyst.