Various pyridine and 2,2-bipyridyl ligands attached to the polymer chain end of ring-opened poly(norbomene) were prepared by living ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) using Mo(CHCMe2Ph)(N-2,6-(Pr2C6H3)-Pr-i)(O'Bu)(2). The prepared pyridine and 2,2'-bipyridyl derivatives were examined for their use as ligands for catalytic hydrogen transfer reduction of cyclohexanone in the presence of Ru(acac)(3) (in toluene/(PrOH)-Pr-i in the presence of (NaOPr)-Pr-i, at 50 degrees C, acac: acetylacetonato). The catalytic activity increased upon addition of the above polymer as the ligand, and the prepared catalyst could be recovered by filtration as the precipitate, by pouring the reaction mixture into methanol. The recovered catalyst could be reused without decrease in the activity. Since the olefinic double bond in the ROMP polymer was not hydrogenated under these reaction conditions, exclusive reduction of carbonyl group in various ketones, such as acetophenone, 5-hexen-2-one, 2-allylhexanone could be achieved in this catalysis. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.