Dedicated to Professor Ernst Otto Fischer on the occasion of his 70th birthdayKetenimine complexes are readily available in great variety by reaction of isocyanides with carbene complexes. They have proven to be useful building blocks in new synthetic approaches to carbocyclic and N-heterocyclic four-, five-, and six-membered rings. The reactions involve new metal-induced bond formation patterns of the ketenimine ligands, which can be influenced across a wide range by varying the following five parameters: the metal, the ligands, and the three substituents on the N=C=C unit.