Olefin metathesis is arguably the most powerful carboncarbon bond breaking and making reaction in chemical synthesis.[1] Depending on the nature of the reacting partners, olefin metathesis can be used for ring-opening polymerization (ROMP), [2] to create advanced polymeric materials, [3] transformation of acyclic diene substrates into complex cyclic organic molecules (in ring-closing metathesis (RCM)) [4] or polymers (in acyclic diene metathesis (ADMET)) [5] or in cross metathesis (CM) to generate unsymmetrical olefins. [6,7] Although olefin metathesis is fully reversible, RCM, ADMET, and CM rely on the elimination of ethylene, the simplest olefin, as a thermodynamic driving force. Used by itself or in tandem with other synthetic transformations, [8,9] olefin metathesis is a versatile method for the modern synthetic chemist.It is generally acknowledged that a metal carbene species, {L n M=CRR'}, is required and that interaction with an olefin substrate leads to four-membered metallacyclobutane intermediates or transition states, {L n M(CRR') 3 }, by a 2+2 cycloaddition; cleavage of this intermediate in the opposite sense by which it was formed leads to olefin metathesis, creating a new carbon-carbon double bond and regenerating an active metal carbene. Metal carbenes are generally classified as being nucleophilic (electron rich) or electrophilic (electron poor) in character at the carbene carbon atom, but an effective olefin-metathesis catalyst exhibits behavior between these two extremes. Two carefully tuned classes of mediator have evolved into the catalysts of choice for olefin metathesis. Schrock catalysts [10,11] are molybdenum-or tungsten-based alkylidenes with a fairly specific ligand set designed to modulate the properties of the carbene (Figure 1). These catalysts display high activities and stabilities, but are sensitive to ambient air and moisture and are relatively intolerant of polar functionalities. The Grubbs-catalyst portfolio [12] consists of a variety of ruthenium-based systems of general formula [Cl 2 (L)(L')Ru = C(H)R] (compounds 1) which are significantly more functional-group tolerant, but do not exhibit the same levels of activity or longevity as the Schrock catalysts.