"Z-Selective Metathesis, Alkyne Metathesis, and Deactivation in Metathesis"

烯烃复分解为组装碳-碳键、分子和高级材料的框架提供了非常强大的化学方法。它在2005年获得了诺贝尔奖，部分原因是它在减少化学和制药制造中通过经典合成方法产生的废物比例方面具有巨大的潜力。然而，迄今为止，促成这一反应的强力催化剂在工业上基本上未被使用。问题在于它们的寿命很短，这导致了不经济的过程。我们试图了解为什么这些催化剂是脆弱的，以及它们在使用条件下如何分解。这种理解将有力地帮助设计下一代长寿命催化剂，并使工业应用成为可能。

Olefin metathesis offers exceptionally powerful chemical methods for assembling carbon-carbon bonds, the frameworks of both molecules and advanced materials. It was recognized with the Nobel Prize in 2005, in part because of its enormous potential to reduce the proportion of waste generated via classical synthetic methods in chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing. To date, however, the powerful catalysts that enable this reaction are essentially unused in industry. The problem lies in their short lifetimes, which results in uneconomic processes. We seek to understand why these catalysts are vulnerable, and how they decompose under conditions of use. Such understanding would be a powerful aid to designing next-generation, long-lived catalysts, and enabling industrial uptake.