Trisubstituted alkenes have been prepared via intermolecular olefin cross-metathesis (CM) between α-olefins and symmetrically 1, 1-disubstituted olefins using an imidazolylidene ruthenium benzylidene complex. Of particular interest is the synthesis of isoprenoid/prenyl groups by a simple solvent-free CM reaction with isobutylene. In addition, prenyl groups can also be installed by a cross-metathesis of 2-methyl-2-butene with a variety of α-olefins at ...
