Stereodefined enol derivatives of aldehydes are prepared from terminal alkynes. Specifically, terminal alkynes are known to undergo Cp 2 ZrCl 2 -catalyzed methylalumination. Here, we show that the resultant vinylalanes can be oxygenated with peroxyzinc species to generate trisubstituted enolates. Electrophilic trapping with carboxylic anydrides or silyl triflates yields trisubstituted enol esters or silanes, respectively. The tandem carbometalation/oxygenation tolerates free and protected alcohols, heterocycles, olefins and nitriles. Likewise, amination can be accomplished using azodicarboxylates. Stereodefined enol esters can undergo asymmetric dihydroxylation to yield optically-active α-hydroxy aldehydes. Reduction with NaBH 4 provides the diols of 1,1-disubstituted olefins in excellent ee. An application of this methodology to the enantioselective synthesis of the insect pheromone frontalin is presented. Finally, α-hydroxy aldehydes are shown to undergo homologation to a terminal alkyne, reductive amination, oxidation and olefination. Preliminary results indicate that tandem carbometalation/amination can be accomplished with azodicarboxylates. In this way, ene-hydrazines are formed in excellent yield.Stereodefined enol derivatives of α-branched aldehydes (4) represent valuable building blocks for organic synthesis, but limited access to them has compromised their utility. They are most often prepared from the corresponding aldehyde, although these approaches generally afford mixtures of olefin stereoisomers. 1 Furthermore, current strategies for obtaining the α-substituted aldehydes themselves are limited in reaction scope and require multiple synthetic operations. 2 An alternative synthesis of trisubstituted enol derivatives might involve tandem carbometalation-oxygenation of terminal alkynes (Scheme 1). In this regard, we previously documented the carbocupration-oxygenation of terminal alkynes, in which a vinyl copper intermediate (2, M = Cu) was oxidized with t BuOOLi. 3 Electrophilic trapping of the resultant E-enolate (3) generated E-enol esters and silanes. However, methyl-substituted products were not accessible by this method because methyl-cupration of alkynes is not efficient. 4 Accordingly, we sought a general method for obtaining methyl-substituted enol esters and ethers (4, R′=Me). As described below, we have accomplished this objective and have begun to explore the asymmetric transformations of stereodefined enol derivatives. The methylalumination-oxygenation reaction tolerates considerable functionality including protected and free alcohols, heterocycles, and olefins. 9 Electrophilic trapping is not limited to benzoylation: enol acetates and TES enol ethers (entries 9-14) were prepared in high yields as well. Furthermore, in every case studied to date, the enol derivative has been isolated as a single regioisomer with a high E-isomer content (all E/Z ratios > 20/1). 10Trisubstituted, stereodefined enol derivatives of this type were previously inaccessible, and their ready availability a...