Several molybdenum and tungsten metal complexes have been synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The research has been focused primarily on two important aspects.

The first aspect involves the synthesis of the imido-tethered alkylidenes, which is an analogue of the Schrock olefin metathesis system and has been characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. To increase the stability, the complex was prepared with no β-hydrogens in the structure, and the tether long enough to prevent any ring-strain effects. Furthermore, the catalyst system has been applied to the study involving ring-closing metathesis (RCM) as well as ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP).

The second aspect involves the synthesis and study of metallacycles, generated by the addition of cyclooctyne to molybdenum and tungsten bis(imido) complexes. The complexes show a large amount of alkylidene character as suggested by X-ray diffraction and NMR studies. The synthesis of various derivatives of these metallacycles and their application for the carbonyl-olefination reaction have been scrutinized. The cationic derivatives generated by addition of Lewis acids to the above complexes were found to be quite active.