The reactions of Co 2 (CO) 8 with 1-ethynylcyclohexanol (HC᎐ ᎐ ᎐ CC 6 H 10 OH, ECY) in benzene led mainly to Co 2 (CO) 6 (ECY) 1 and to smaller amounts of the methylidyne complex Co 3 (CO) 9 [µ 3-CCH 2 (C 6 H 10 OH)] 2. The reactions of Fe 3 (CO) 12 with ECY in the same solvent led to binuclear metallacyclic derivatives Fe 2 (CO) 6 (ECY) 2 (isomers 3a, 3b) or Fe 2 (CO) 6 [(ECY) 2 Ϫ H 2 O] 3c as the main products; small yields of trinuclear complexes Fe 3 (CO) 9 (µ-CO)[µ 3-η 2-1,2-HC᎐ ᎐ ᎐ C(C 6 H 10 OH)] 4, Fe 3 (CO) 9 (µ-CO)[µ 3-η 2-1,2-C᎐ ᎐ C(C 6 H 10)] 5 and Fe 3 (CO) 7-[µ 3-η 7-(C 6 H 10 OH)CCHCHC(C 6 H 9)] 6 {containing respectively a parallel alkynol, an allenylidene and a dimeric metallacyclic ligand} were also obtained, together with 7, a thermal decomposition product of 6. Finally, when Co 2 (CO) 8 was treated with ECY in benzene, and Fe 3 (CO) 12 was added, the heterometallic complex Co 2 Fe(CO) 6-(µ-CO)[µ 3-η 7-(C 6 H 9)CC(H)C(H)C(H)(C 6 H 10)] 8 was obtained in low yields. The complexes have been characterized by means of IR and 1 H NMR spectroscopies and by mass spectrometry. The structures of 2, 5, 8 have been determined by X-ray diffraction. Complex 2 contains an "hydrogenated" ECY ligand, 5 an allenylidene ligand formed upon dehydration of ECY (loss of the OH and of the terminal hydrogen), whereas 8 contains a ligand formed by tail-to-tail coupling of two ECY molecules, with loss of water and oxygen and shift of hydrogen. The elemental analysis of complex 8 gave a Co : Fe ratio of 2 : 1; on the basis of this analysis, the refinement of the diffraction data allowed a hypothesis on the distribution of the metal atoms in the cluster. Reaction pathways for the formation of these clusters are proposed and dehydration mechanisms for the ligand discussed.