Abstract: In order to circumvent some of the inherent drawbacks of using traditional Lewis acids to catalyze the Diels-Alder and other Lewis-acid-promoted reactions, a ruthenium- based catalyst has been devised. The readily prepared catalyst is tranr-[Ru (salen)(NO)(HzO)] SbF6, where salen is the N, N'-bis (salicy1idene) ethylenediamine dianion ligand. It has been fully characterized; it is stable to oxygen and can be handled ...
