consisting of the 16-electron allyl-ruthenium(II) complex [Ru(η3-2-C3H4Me)(CO)(dppf)][SbF6] (dppf = 1,1′-bis(diphenylphosphino)ferrocene) and trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) has been used to promote the coupling between secondary propargylicalcohols and cyclic 1,3-diketones. The nature of the resulting products was found to be dependent on the ring size of the dicarbonyl compound employed. Thus, whereas 6