Protonation of the rhenium η 2 -alkyne complex C 5 Me 5 (CO) 2 Re(η 2 -MeCtCMe) (4) with HBF 4 at room temperature produced the η 3 -allyl complex C 5 Me 5 (CO) 2 Re(η 3 -exo,anti-MeHC-CH-CH 2 ) + BF 4 -(5). The protonation of 4 at -78 °C occurred at rhenium to give the rhenium alkyne hydride complex C 5 Me 5 (CO) 2 -ReH(η 2 -MeCtCMe) + BF 4 -(6). At -16 °C, net proton migration from rhenium to the alkyne ligand of 6 occurred to produce the 1-metallacyclopropene complex C 5 Me 5 (CO) 2 Re(η 2 -CMeCHMe) + BF 4 -(7), which then rearranged to form the η 3 -allyl complex 5. The degenerate rearrangement of 7 by hydride migration between the two metallacyclopropene carbons was demonstrated by deuterium labeling. Protonation of the rhenium η 2 -alkyne complex C 5 Me 5 (CO) 2 Re(η 2 -PhCtCPh) (10) with HBF 4 at -78 °C initially produced the rhenium alkyne hydride complex C 5 Me 5 (CO) 2 ReH(η 2 -PhCtCPh) + BF 4 -(11), which was observed spectroscopically. Upon warming to room temperature, 11 was converted to the stable 1-metallacyclopropene complex C 5 Me 5 (CO) 2 -Re(η 2 -CPhCHPh) + BF 4 -(12), which was characterized by X-ray crystallography. Hybrid density functional theory calculations and natural bond orbital analysis were performed on the 1-metallacyclopropene cation [C 5 H 5 (CO) 2 Re(η 2 -MeCCHMe)] + to compare η 2 -vinyl vs 1-metallacyclopropene formulations.