Preparation of novel, highly water soluble Ru complexes, which contain quaternary ammonium chloride tags is presented. The ''on-site'' quaternisation method can be used to obtain polar metathesis catalysts in an easy and efficient manner. Application profiles of three representative catalysts are described.

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The novel catalyst 8, bearing a polar quaternary ammonium group, is very stable and can be easily prepared from commercially available reagents. Catalyst 8 can be efficiently used for olefin metathesis not only in traditional but also in aqueous media. Various ring closing-, cross-and enynemetathesis reactions were conducted in water-methanol mixtures in air. The electron withdrawing quaternary ammonium group not only activates the catalyst chemically, but at the same time allows its efficient separation after reaction. Application of 8 leads to organic products of high purity, which exhibit very low ruthenium contamination levels (12-68 ppm) after filtering through a pad of silica gel.