New ruthenium metathesis catalysts with chelating indenylidene ligands: synthesis, characterization and reactivity.

Six new ruthenium complexes bearing a bidentate (κ(2)O,C)-isopropoxy-indenylidene and PPh(3) or PCy(3) ligands have been synthesized and characterized by (1)H, (13)C NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. Some of these complexes were synthesized in dimethyl carbonate, a green solvent that was recently shown to be suitable for several catalytic transformations including olefin metathesis. The thermal stability and catalytic efficiency of the PCy(3)-containing complexes have been evaluated in a series of test reactions.