The first example of tungsten-based carbene generation from WCl6 and atomic carbon and its use in olefin metathesis

We describe a new route for the synthesis of tungsten-based carbenes generated by the reaction of WCl6 with atomic carbon in a carbon arc reactor. The active species formed under these conditions, [W] = CCl2, was found to catalyze olefin metathesis reactions of 1-octene, 2-octene and 1-heptene. We also evaluated the mechanism of formation of [W] = CCl2 within the WCl6/C system at the DFT level.