A standard system of characterization for olefin metathesis catalysts

The success of olefin metathesis has spurred the intense investigation of new catalysts for this transformation. With the development of many different catalysts, however, it becomes increasingly difficult to compare their efficiencies. In this article we introduce a set of six reactions with specific reaction conditions to establish a standard for catalyst comparison in olefin metathesis. The reactions were selected on the basis of their ability to provide a maximum amount of information describing catalyst activity, stability, and selectivity, while being operationally simple. Seven of the most widely used ruthenium-based olefin metathesis catalysts were evaluated with these standard screens. This standard is a useful tool for the comparison and evaluation of new metathesis catalysts.