Applications of the Olefin Metathesis Reaction to Industrial Processes

The industrial applications of the olefin metathesis reaction are relatively recent although this reaction was observed about 50 years ago. Streck described in details the historical development of this reaction in his review in a book of the same series [1]. He gave also interesting data on the industrial processes in refs. [2] and [3]. More recently, Ivin and Mol, in their classical book on olefin metathesis, have also developped this field in a special chapter [4]. The idea of olefin disproportionation was first proposed by Robert Banks at Phillips [5], who had observed traces of pentenes and propene in the reaction mixture after passing isobutane and butenes through a bed filled with molybdenum carbonyl supported on alumina. The Ring Opening Metathesis Polymerization was found by the Natta group at Montedison [6, 7]. Many groups studied this reaction and its mechanism was proposed by Chauvin