In 1974 Schrock discovered the alpha hydrogen abstraction reaction, which creates alkylidene complexes from alkyls and alkylidyne complexes from alkylidenes. At MIT Schrock was the first to elucidate the structure and mechanism of so-called 'black box' olefin metathesis catalysts. He showed that the alpha abstraction reaction could be used to prepare molybdenum or tungsten alkylidene and alkylidyne complexes in large variety through ligand variations. Catalysts could then be designed at a molecular level for a given purpose. Schrock has done much work to demonstrate that metallacyclobutanes are the key intermediates in
olefin metathesis, while metallacyclobutadienes are the key intermediates in alkyne metathesis. Projects outside of metathesis include elucidating the mechanism of
dinitrogen fixation and developing single molecule catalysts which form ammonia from dinitrogen, mimicking the activity of
nitrogenase enzymes in biology. Many supporting ligands have been explored in efforts to better understand the nature of the single molecule catalysts, most notably 2,6-diisopropylphenylimido and adamantylimido, as well as various tert-butyl alkoxides with varying degrees of fluorination. The prototypical Schrock catalyst is where R = tert-butyl, R' = 2,6-diisopropylphenyl, and R" = . Such catalysts are now commercially available from such major suppliers as Sigma-Aldrich and XiMo, inc., which is now owned by Verbio, AG, and are used frequently in synthetic applications of olefin metathesis in the laboratory and on a commercial scale. Schrock's work is ongoing with goals of furthering the understanding of metathesis selectivity, developing new catalyst architectures, and elucidating how alkylidenes and alkylidynes are formed naturally from olefins. ==Awards and honors==