On the contrary, methylation of the hydroxyl moiety (Entry 9), which cannot be cleaved in the reaction conditions, prevents the reaction from happening (in the case of Entry 9, we observed only the removal of the silicon protecting groups on the triple bonds). Also the substitution of at least one of the aromatic groups on the substrates affected the outcome of the reaction. For example, when a methyl group was introduced (employing 2-phenyl-3-butyn-2-ol as starting material, Entry 13), we obtained a complex mixture of products, probably as a consequence of the enolization of the αhydrogens in a basic environment. No expected product was observed in the case of 1phenylpropargyl alcohol, for which one of the aryl groups is exchanged for an H (Entry 14).