Dehydroannulenes are a fascinating class of carbon-rich molecules which have been studied intensively. [1] With the development of improved synthetic methodologies, these macrocycles are now being exploited for their potential material properties. Recent applications employ such annulenes as conjugated scaffolds for nonlinear optical applications [2] and as precursors for carbon nanotube synthesis. [3] We are currently exploring the use of fused dehydroannulenes as components in conjugated ladder polymers (e.g. acynes 1 and rylynes 2). R R R R R R n n acyne rylyne 1 2While the phenyldiacetylene macrocycles that comprise 1 are well-known compounds, [4] the class of dehydroannulenes that make up the backbone of 2 is poorly understood. The parent compound 3 was prepared in 1968 by Mitchell and Sondheimer, who were unable to fully characterize this new of the (R 1 /Et) 1,3-p interaction. The lower reactivity of dialkyl and alkyl aryl acrylonitriles compared to monosubstituted substrates is not unexpected considering the influence of the substituents on the electronic density at the double bond. This could also be responsible for the low reactivity of trisubstituted vinyl sulfoxide 8, but the (O/R 3 ) gauche and (Tol/R 3 ) gauche interactions present when R 3 =H can also be involved in the destabilization of both TS A and TS B .Desulfinylation of the amides 15 ± 17 and 19 with Raney nickel afforded the corresponding enantiopure amides 21 ± 24, which were isolated in good yields (b 70 %, Scheme 3). [21] In summary we have shown that the hydrocyanation of alkenyl sulfoxides with Et 2 AlCN takes place in a completely stereoselective manner. Taking into account the chemical versatility of the cyano and sulfinyl groups, this reaction can be considered as the key step in a short sequence that allows the creation of optically pure molecules containing tertiary or quaternary chiral centers from terminal alkynes, as illustrated with the preparation of amides 21 ± 24.