Synthesis of new ruthenium based catalysts for metathesis of methyl esters derived from vegetable oils
The development of efficient ruthenium based catalysts has contributed to the development of olefin metathesis. This reaction catalyzed by tungsten, rhenium or molybdenum complexes, was applied, until now, to non-fonctionalized olefins. The use of ruthenium precursors allowed to broaden range of applications of olefin metathesis owing to their high tolerance to various organic functions. Indeed, methyl esters of vegetable oils can be converted into chemical base by metathesis in the presence of ruthenium based catalysts. In this study, we report ruthenium complexes reactivities for ethenolysis of methyl oleate as well as the design and the characterization of new systems. We describe the synthesis of new ruthenium catalysts containing cyclic alkyl(amino)carbenes and the evaluation of their performances. We show that these precatalysts display interesting catalytic properties for the ethenolysis of methyl oleate. Modifications of the carbenes ligands architecture provide the possibility to create novel catalysts as the functionalization of the isopropoxybenzylidene ligand which allowed immobilization of catalysts in ionic liquid. Besides, attempts to coordinate other ligands, such as fluorenylidène and silylene, able to afford active complexes will be discuss.