Functionalized mesoporous silicates for the removal of ruthenium from reaction mixtures.

[reaction: see text] The removal of residual ruthenium after olefin metathesis reactions and asymmetric hydrogenations has been described using amine-functionalized mesoporous silicates. Aminopropyltriethoxy silane-derivatized silicates were found to be the most effective. More than 99.99% of RuCl(3) could be removed in a single treatment. Scavenging of Ru after metathesis reactions using a Grubbs generation 1 catalyst gave a product with concentrations of less than 10 microg/5 mg after two treatments with amine-modified silica. Most importantly, no chromatography was required.