Metal carbenes in homogeneous alkene metathesis: Computational investigations

This paper demonstrates the contribution of molecular modeling as a tool to understanding alkene metathesis – by giving an overview of computational studies done of the four main types of metal carbenes tested in homogeneous alkene metathesis as catalysts after the discovery of the Chauvin mechanism. Three areas were discussed, namely: properties of transition metal complexes, the theoretical treatment of the four main types of metal carbenes and the computational studies done on these carbenes.