Straight from the pages of ACIEE comes the latest from the Nuckolls group: ROAMP, or metathesis polymerization of strained cyclic alkynes (Schweeet!)
NMR kinetic studies indicate that the active molybdenum catalyst, initially trapped in a dimer, can be broken apart just enough by methanol to make polyalkynes. This procedure even works in the presence of air, water, or phenolic additives - usually catalytic death knells.
Kudos to Nuckolls' group, but their coup de grace may in fact be the accompanying cover graphic, below. Your eyes do not deceive you: they compare their sexy new reaction to a steaming copper moonshine still, hidden deep in the woods.
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| Credit: D.W. Paley, Columbia | Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. |
Happy Friday,
See Arr Oh
But would it would it go well with scotch? (As do certain Klingon nerve-gas agents…)
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