Phenyl- and vinyllithiums having an alkyl substituent at their ortho- and cis-position, respectively, readily added to alkynes in the presence of 5 mol% of Fe(acac)(3). The reaction of o-(trimethylsilyl)phenyllithium with alkynes gave benzosiloles through an addition-cyclization sequence.

Novel chiral phosphorus-olefin bidentate ligands have been synthesized in a few steps from a readily available enantiopure compound. These ligands have been applied to a rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric addition of organoboroxines to N-sulfonyl aldimines, achieving high yield and enantioselectivity.

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Ring-closing olefin metathesis (RCM) of 4-methylene-1,7-octadien-3-ones 2, followed by isomerization of the carbon--carbon double bond of 6-methylene-2-cyclohexenones 3 from exo to endo, produced various phenols 4. As an application of the method, the RCM/Mizoroki-Heck reaction of 2 was proven to be also effective for the synthesis of phenols having an additional substituent at ortho-benzylic position.

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