Major Achievement in Olefin Metathesis: First World-Scale Bio-Refinery

October 3, 2013

July 18, 2013 was a very exciting day for the olefin metathesis community. The first press release from Elevance Renewable Sciences and Wilmar International Limited reported that their joint venture, a $40 million olefin metathesis-based bio-refinery located in Gresik, Indonesia was operational, leading to the first shipments of commercial products to customers.1 The Gresik facility […]

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Metathesis Making the Wheels on the Bus Go Round…Over and Over Again

September 10, 2013

Wolf, S. and Plenio, H. “On the Ethenolysis of End-of-Life Tire Granules” Green Chemistry 2013, 15, 315-319. DOI: 10.1039/c2g36417d If one accepts the old adage “The more things change, the more they stay the same…” is true, does it then follow that “the more things stay the same, the more they (can) change…” Any truthful response […]

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Olefin Metathesis at 246th ACS Meeting

August 26, 2013

The American Chemical Society 246th National Meeting & Exhibition will take place this year from Sept 8-12 in Indianapolis, IN. As one might expect, given the location, the theme of the meeting is “Chemistry in Motion.” Although I didn’t see any talks on cars operating by metathesis derived biodiesel, the fast evolving field of metathesis […]

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New Initiation Mechanism for NHC-Ru Motif in Olefin Metathesis

August 8, 2013

Urbina-Blanco, C. A.; Poater, A.; Lebl, T.; Manzini, S.; Slawin, A. M. Z.; Cavallo, L.; Nolan, S. P. The Activation Mechanism of Ru-Indenylidene Complexes in Olefin Metathesis. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135, 7073-7079. Recent literature accounts have challenged the notion that all olefin metathesis reactions catalyzed by Ru-NHC complexes are identical, beginning with dissociation […]

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Terpenes Go ROMPing Into New Materials

June 28, 2013

Grau, E.; Mecking, S. “Polyterpenes by ring opening metathesis polymerization of caryophyllene and humulene” Green Chemistry 2013, 15, 1112-1115  Polymers are an indispensable commodity within modern society found in all sectors of a consumer economy, such as: materials, pharmaceuticals and energy. Typically derived from non-renewable petroleum sources, polymers account for ~7% of the gas oil […]

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Fast Ring Closing Metathesis Reactions at Low Catalyst Loadings

May 30, 2013

Despite the huge advances in the area of olefin metathesis, better catalysts are still sought to increase the efficiency of ring closing metathesis (RCM) reactions and make them more applicable in industry1. Recently, several modified second-gen Grubbs-Hoveyda catalysts were prepared and tested for RCM by the Plenio group. The goal was to develop faster initiating […]

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Lubricating Joints with Ring-opening Metathesis Polymerization

April 24, 2013

Wathier, M.; Lakin, B. A.; Bansal, P. N.; Stoddart, S. S.; Snyder, B. D.; Grinstaff, M. W. “A Large-Molecular-Weight Polyanion, Synthesized via Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization, as a Lubricant for Human Articular Cartilage” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135, 4930–4933 Mammals use natural lubricants, known as synovial fluid to keep their joints moving smoothly. With age, […]

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