The Grubs's catalyst. A mini review

In 1995, Robert H. Grubbs published an original research on olefin metathesis using ruthenium(II) carbenes complexes, specifically benzylidene-kappa C-bis(tricyclohexylphosphine-kappa P)dichlororuthenium(II), a compound that quickly became known as "Grubbs' catalyst". This one and some other molybdenum, ruthenium and osmium catalysts were the result of an extensive research in the field of olefin metathesis, which lead him, along with Richard R. Schrock and Yves Chauvin, to the Nobel Prize in chemistry 2005. The review of the original literature in the field of organometallic chemistry and catalysis, confirms the importance of this compound and its analogues such as the first three generations of Grubbs catalysts (GI, GIIand GIII) and its most important variants: the Hoveyda-Grubbs catalyst. In this sense, this article presents a systematic review of some of the most relevant aspects reported in the period 1995 to 2019. Some structural aspects that are relevant for its applications on the reactions of ring closing metathesis (RCM), ring opening metathesis (ROM), crossed metathesis (CM) and ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) are also discussed. Twenty five years after the publication of the synthesis of the Grubbs catalyst [RuCl2(CHC6H5)(PCy)(2) many possibilities remains in the chemical, petrochemical and pharmaceutical industry, materials science and nanochemistry and expectations continue to be generated around analogous compounds to the Grubbs catalyst