Cycloalkynes smaller than seven-membered rings are generally unstable and difficult to isolate, whereas the synthesis and reactivity of cyclopentynes, five-membered cycloalkynes, have been studied extensively.[1] Most reactions of the labile species involved formal 1,2-addition to the triple bond. There have been some reports of cyclopent-1-en-3-ynes, [2] but 1,4-addition to these compounds has not been shown. Cyclopentynes conjugated with alkylidene moieties have not been reported to date. We were interested in investigating the reactivity of cyclopentynes with alkylidene groups.We described previously the synthesis and reactivity of 1-metallacyclopent-3-yne compounds, five-membered cycloalkynes, and showed that these compounds were surprisingly stable in pure form at room temperature [Eq. (1)]. [3a,b] Titanium and hafnium analogues have also been prepared.[3c, 4a] Several reactions of these unique molecules have been reported; [3][4][5] however, their transformation into cycloalkenes or cycloallenes has not been shown. We reasoned that 1-metallacyclopent-3-ynes of conjugated systems would show more varied reactivities. We report herein the synthesis of a 2,5-bisalkylidene-1-metallacyclopent-3-yne compound and its transformation into 1-metallacyclopent-3-ene and formal "1-metallacyclopenta-2,3-diene" compounds.The treatment of a low-valent zirconocene-bisphosphine complex, [Cp 2 Zr(PMe 3 ) 2 ], [6] with 1,1,6,6-tetrakis(4-ethylphenyl)-1,2,3,4,5-hexapentaene (2) [7] at room temperature for 4 days gave the 2,5-bisalkylidene-1-zirconacyclopent-3-yne compound 3 in 70 % yield [Eq. (2)]. The reaction gave 3 predominantly, and the possible isomer 2-allenylidene-1-zirconacyclopent-3-yne (4) was not obtained, probably because of the steric hindrance of the aryl groups. Although several transition-metal complexes of hexapentaenes have been reported, none of them have 1-metallacyclopent-3-yne structures.[8] The molecular structure of 3 is shown in Figure 1.[9] The triple bond in 3 (C3ÀC4) is significantly longer than that in the nonsubstituted 1-zirconacyclopent-3-yne complex 1 (R = H; 1.237(5) ), [3e] whereas the adjacent single bonds (C2 À C3 and C4 À C5) are slightly shorter in 3 than in 1 (1.406-1.408 in 1). These differences may reflect differences between the bond lengths of hexapentaene 2 and those of butatrienes: Compound 2 has a longer central bond (1.311(2) ), [7,10] whereas butatrienes have a shorter central bond (1.22-1.28 ). The alkylidene moieties are bent away from the metal center; the four carbon atoms C2-C5 and the Zr center are coplanar, and C1 and C6 are located 0.24 and 0.27 from this plane, respectively.When a red solution of 3 in tetrahydrofuran was treated with lithium powder or potassium graphite at room temperature, the color of the solution changed to deep blue. Protonation of this solution with catechol (1 equiv) gave the 1-zirconacyclopent-3-ene compound 6 as the major product [46 % yield (as determined by 1 H NMR spectroscopy), M = K; Eq. (3)]. This result indicates the formation of a dian...