Interest in the utility of polylactide as a commodity polymer has increased significantly in recent years due to numerous environmental advantages over conventional petrochemically derived plastics. As such, the development of novel catalyst systems for the ring opening polymerization of lactide has seen tremendous progress in the past decade. In particular, divalent metals (i.e. Mg, Ca and Zn) supported by monoanionic ancillary scaffolds are appealing because of their low toxicity and cost. A much less common approach involves the use of neutral ligands in combination with the aforementioned divalent metal centres. The additional valence thus renders it possible, upon reaction with traditional Lewis or Brønsted acid activators, to generate sterically and electronically unsaturated species, akin to the most widely employed olefin polymerization catalysts. This Perspective is not intended as a comprehensive review, but rather a systematic highlight of key contributions, which have served to extend the forefront of this exciting field.

Reactions are described of the second-generation Hoveyda catalyst HII with amines, pyridine, and DBU (1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene), in the presence and absence of olefin substrates. These nitrogen bases have a profoundly negative impact on metathesis yields, but in most cases are innocuous toward the pre-catalyst. HII adducts were formed by primary and secondary amines (n-butylamine, sec-butylamine, benzylamine, pyrrolidine, morpholine), pyridine, and DBU at room temperature. No reaction was evident for NEt 3 , even at 60 °C. On longer reaction at RT, unencumbered primary amines abstract the benzylidene ligand from HII. With 10 equiv NH 2 n Bu, this process was complete in 12 h, affording NH n Bu(CH 2 Ar) (Ar = o-C 6 H 4 -O i Pr) and [RuCl(H 2 IMes)(NH 2 n Bu) 4 ]Cl. For benzylamine, benzylidene abstraction occurred over days at RT. No such reaction was observed for sec-butylamine, secondary amines, NEt 3 , pyridine, or DBU. All of these bases, however, strongly inhibited metathesis of styrene by HII, with a general trend toward more deleterious effects with higher Bronsted basicity. Studies at 10 mol% HII and 10 equiv DBU, NEt 3 , and pyrrolidine (60 °C, C 6 D 6 ) indicated that the primary mechanism for decomposition involved base-induced deprotonation of the metallacyclobutane intermediate, rather than the Lewis base-mediated decomposition pathways previously established for the Grubbs catalysts. In the corresponding metathesis of ethylene, this decomposition process is rapid even at RT, highlighting the vulnerability of the monosubstituted metallacyclobutane.

Amine‐mediated decomposition during olefin metathesis reactions that employ the second‐generation Grubbs catalyst is studied. For most amines, the dominant deactivation pathway involves ejection of the PCy3 (Cy=cyclohexyl) ligand by the amine, followed by abstraction of the methylidene moiety from the resting‐state species RuCl2(H2IMes)(PCy3)(=CH2) (H2IMes=1,3‐dimesityl‐4,5‐dihydroimidazol‐2‐ylidene) as [MePCy3]Cl. An exception is highly basic 1,8‐diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec‐7‐ene (DBU), which is slow to degrade the resting‐state methylidene complex, and for which the phosphonium byproduct is not observed. However, DBU is shown to rapidly attack a species generated during catalysis, most probably the metallacyclobutane intermediate.

A general approach for the synthesis of cationic zinc complexes supported by neutral ancillary ligands has been developed and exploited to prepare [LH][B(C6F5)4] (L = 4-(2,6- i Pr2-C6H3NPPh2)dbf), 1a, and [LH][SO3CF3], 1b) using [HNMe2Ph][B(C6F5)4] and triflic acid, respectively. Reactions of 1a and 1b with diethylzinc afforded the corresponding complexes [LZnEt][B(C6F5)4], 2a, and [LZnEt(OSO2CF3)], 2b. Both zinc complexes have exhibited notable activities for the catalytic polymerization of l-lactide.

Ring-closing metathesis (RCM) offers versatile catalytic routes to macrocycles, with applications ranging from perfumery to production of antiviral drugs. Unwanted oligomerization, however, is a long-standing challenge. Oligomers can be converted into the cyclic targets by catalysts that are sufficiently reactive to promote backbiting (e.g., Ru complexes of N-heterocyclic carbenes; NHCs), but catalyst decomposition limits yields and selectivity. Incorporation of a hemilabile o-dianiline (ODA) chelate into new catalysts of the form RuCl(NHC)(ODA)(=CHPh) accelerates macrocyclization, particularly for dienes bearing polar sites capable of H-bonding: it may also inhibit catalyst decomposition during metathesis. Significant improvements relative to prior Ru-NHC catalysts result, with fast macrocyclization of conformationally flexible dienes at room temperature.