A hexafluorobenzene promoted ring-closing metathesis to form tetrasubstituted olefins

Highly efficient formation of tetrasubstituted olefins is described by ring-closing metathesis (RCM) using catalyst 2 in presence of hexafluorobenzene. This combination with hexafluorobenzene shows an unexpected promoting effect, which requires low catalysts loadings and allows the conversion of deficient olefins in high yields and very short reaction times.