Olefin metathesis has made a significant impact on modern organic chemistry, but important shortcomings remain: for example, the lack of efficient processes that can be used to generate acyclic alkenyl halides. Halo-substituted ruthenium carbene complexes decompose rapidly or deliver low activity and/or minimal stereoselectivity, and our understanding of the corresponding high-oxidation-state systems is very limited. In this manuscript, we show that previously unknown halo-substituted molybdenum alkylidene species are exceptionally reactive and are able to participate in high-yielding olefin metathesis reactions that afford acyclic 1,2-disubstituted Z-alkenyl halides. Transformations are promoted by small amounts of an in situ-generated catalyst with unpurified, commercially available and easy-to-handle liquid 1,2-dihaloethene reagents and proceed to high conversion at ambient temperature within four hours. Many alkenyl chlorides, bromides and fluorides can be obtained in up to 91 percent yield and complete Z selectivity. This method can be used to easily synthesize biologically active compounds and to perform the site- and stereoselective fluorination of other organic compounds.

Development of catalyst-controlled stereoselective olefin metathesis processes1 has been a pivotal recent advance in chemistry. Incorporation of appropriate ligands within molybdenum-2, tungsten3 and ruthenium-based complexes4 has made reactivity and selectivity levels that were formerly inaccessible feasible. Here, we show that molybdenum monoaryloxide chloride (MAC) complexes furnish higher energy (Z) isomers of trifluoromethyl-substituted alkenes through cross-metathesis (CM) reactions with commercially available, inexpensive and typically inert Z-1,1,1,4,4,4-hexafluoro-2-butene. Furthermore, otherwise inefficient and non-stereoselective transformations with Z-1,2-dichloro- and 1,2- dibromoethene can be effected with substantially improved efficiency and Z selectivity. Synthesis of representative biologically active molecules and trifluoromethyl analogues of medicinally relevant compounds underscore the importance of the advance. The origins of activity and selectivity levels, which contradict the previously proposed principles5, are elucidated with the aid of DFT calculations.

A significant shortcoming in olefin metathesis, a chemical process that is central to research in several branches of chemistry, is the lack of efficient methods that kinetically favor E-isomers in the product distribution. Here, we show that kinetically E-selective cross-metathesis reactions may be designed to generate thermodynamically disfavored alkenyl chlorides and fluorides in high yield and with exceptional stereoselectivity. With 1.0–5.0 mol % of a molybdenum-based catalyst, which may be delivered in the form of air- and moisture-stable paraffin pills, reactions typically proceed to completion within four hours at ambient temperature. Many isomerically pure E-alkenyl chlorides, applicable to catalytic cross-coupling transformations and found in biologically active entities, thus become easily and directly accessible. Similarly, E-alkenyl fluorides can be synthesized from simpler compounds or more complex molecules.

Catalytic cross-metathesis is a central transformation in chemistry, and yet, corresponding methods for stereoselectively generating acyclic trisubstituted alkenes in either isomeric form do not exist. The key problems are lack of chemoselectivity, namely, the preponderance of side reactions involving only the less hindered starting alkene, ensuing nonproductive processes of homo-metathesis byproducts, and formation of short-lived methylidene complexes. In contrast, in catalytic cross-coupling, another widely used process, substrates are more distinct and homocoupling is less of a problem. Here, we show that through cross-metathesis reactions involving E- or a Z-trisubstituted alkenes, easily prepared from commercially available starting materials by cross-coupling processes, many otherwise desirable and difficult-to-access linear E- or Z-trisubstituted alkenes can be synthesized efficiently and in exceptional stereoisomeric purity (up to >98% E or 95% Z). Utility is highlighted through concise stereoselective syntheses of biologically active compounds such as indiacen B (anti-fungal) and coibacin D (anti-inflammatory).

Macrocyclic compounds are central to discovery of new drugs but their preparation is often challenging because of the energy barrier required for bringing together and fusing the two ends of an acyclic precursor1. Ring-closing metathesis (RCM) 2,3,4 is a catalytic process that has allowed access to countless biologically active macrocyclic organic molecules even on large scale (up to 200 kilograms)5. The potency of a macrocyclic compound can depend on the stereochemistry of its alkene, or one isomer might be needed for subsequent stereoselective modification (e.g., dihydroxylation6). Still, while kinetically controlled Z-selective RCM reactions have been reported7,8,9,10, the only available olefin metathesis approach for accessing macrocyclic E olefins entails selective removal of the Z component of a stereoisomeric mixture by ethenolysis10, sacrificing substantial quantities of material if E/Z ratios are near unity. Use of ethylene can also cause adventitious olefin isomerization, a particularly serious problem when the E alkene is energetically less favored. Here, we show that dienes containing an E-alkenyl–B(pinacolato) group, widely used in catalytic cross-coupling11, possess the requisite electronic and steric attributes to allow them to be converted stereoselectively to E macrocyclic alkenes. Reactions are promoted by a molybdenum monoaryloxide pyrrolide complex and afford products in up to 73 percent yield and >98:2 E:Z ratio. Utility is highlighted by application to preparation of the twelve-membered ring antibiotic recifeiolide12,13 and the eighteen-membered ring Janus kinase 2/Fms-like tyrosine kinase-3 (JAK2/FLT3) inhibitor pacritinib14,15 the Z isomer of which has lower potency than the E16. The eighteen-membered ring moiety of pacritinib, a potent in vivo anti-cancer agent in advanced clinical trials for treatment of lymphoma and myelofibrosis, was prepared by an RCM carried out at 20 times higher concentration than when a ruthenium carbene was employed (0.02 vs. 0.001 M; 73% yield, 92% E).