Cl prevents insertion: The first metallanaphthalyne 2 has been obtained by Zn reduction of Os carbyne complex 1. The key to its isolation was the use of o-chlorophenyl instead of phenyl substituents to avoid formation of a putative hydrido metallanaphthalyne intermediate (supported by DFT calculations), which undergoes migratory insertion of the carbyne into the OsH bond and rearrangement to give an indenyl complex as the final product.

B3LYP density functional theory calculations have been carried out to examine the structural and energetic aspects of β-hydrogen elimination in several metallacyclic complexes of ruthenium and platinum. Factors affecting barriers of the elimination reactions have been examined. It was found that favorable structural arrangements, in which the transferring β-hydrogen is in close proximity to the metal center, for β-hydrogen elimination exist in certain ring conformations of metallacyclic complexes.