In exploring the hydrovinylation of N-acetylenamines, we first investigated a wide range of catalysts in the reaction of N-acetyl-α-phenylenamine (1a) with ethylene. Ni and Pd complexes with various phosphorus ligands, which efficiently catalyze the hydrovinylation of vinylarenes,(4a-4c) did not catalyze the hydrovinylation of 1a either at room temperature or at elevated temperature. However, when the ruthenium hydride complex RuHCl(CO)(PCy 3 ) 2 , which is an ...