Patents for Improved Metathesis Catalysts Issued to Materia/Caltech

PASADENA, CA--(Marketwire - November 08, 2011) -

Materia, Inc. announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued patent No: US 8,008,224 and No: US 8,039,566 entitled “Organometallic ruthenium complexes and related methods for the preparation of tetra-substituted and other hindered olefins” and “Olefin Metathesis Initiators Bearing Thiazol-2-ylidene ligands,” respectively. The patents cover a new series of ruthenium organometallic complexes which have outstanding reactivity profiles and are the results of collaborative research between Materia and the California Institute of Technology.

The novel ruthenium complexes demonstrate excellent catalytic activity for the metathesis of hindered olefins, a challenging category of olefins to access with previously reported catalysts. The new catalysts enable metathesis approaches for the synthesis of an expanded class of compounds in the pharmaceutical and specialty chemical industries.

Research quantities of Materia’s metathesis catalysts are available from Sigma-Aldrich Corporation or in larger quantities directly from Materia. Technical information on ruthenium metathesis catalysts and their use can be found on Materia’s All Things Metathesis blog at http://allthingsmetathesis.com.

“We are excited to advance and expand the applicability of olefin metathesis in organic synthesis,” said Dr. Michael Giardello, Materia’s Chief Executive Officer. “These patents validate Materia’s position as the world innovator in metathesis technologies through the continued cooperation of Caltech and Materia.”

“It is important for new discoveries to be available for everyone to use and it is exciting that Materia is making these new catalysts available so that the community can exploit the new metathesis capabilities to solve challenging synthetic problems,” stated Nobel Laureate Professor Robert H. Grubbs, of the California Institute of Technology.

These newly issued patents add to the collection of over 350 patents in Materia’s portfolio which protects the intellectual property around the processes and catalysts that enable successful metathesis reactions and create innovative solutions for the global chemical industry.

About Materia
Materia was founded in 1998 to commercialize olefin metathesis catalyst technology. This market-enabling, Nobel Prize-winning, green chemical technology enables chemical compounds to be synthesized with greater efficiency, under less stringent reaction conditions, and with reduced byproducts and hazardous waste. Metathesis has been accepted as an emerging “green technology” platform and has been broadly adopted by the pharmaceutical, chemical, and polymer industries. As stated by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences when awarding the 2005 Nobel Prize, “metathesis is an example of how important basic science has been applied for the benefit of man, society, and the environment.” For more information, visit www.materia-inc.com.