An efficient synthetic method for 2-cyano-1,4-cycloheptadiene derivatives was developed on the basis of divinylcyclopropane rearrangement. The substrates were prepared from 2-vinylcyclopropanecarbonitrile and an alpha,beta-epoxysilane through a Peterson olefination. The resulting 2-cyano-1,4-cycloheptadiene underwent deprotonation at the doubly allylic methylene group to afford a novel cycloheptadienyl anion, a useful intermediate for synthesizing polycyclic compounds. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.