Generating the transient electrophilic tungsten pentacarbonyl-phenylphosphinidene complex PhP=W(CO) 5 in the presence of 2,7-dimethylocta-2,3,5,6-tetraene leads to the formation of a 3,4-di-A C H T U N G T R E N N U N G substituted phosphole or a complexed phospholene, depending on the reaction conditions. The formation of the phospholene results from the reaction of PhP=W(CO) 5 with the diallene, while the formation of the phosphole arises from reaction with 3,4-diisopropylidene-cyclobutene, which is formed in situ from the isomerization of the conjugated allene.