Significant amounts of novel
gem-dizinc carbenoids (RZnCHIZnR) are formed when diethylzinc is mixed with iodoform in CH
2Cl
2 at 0
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C. This reagent was shown to be effective in the cyclopropanation of butenediol derivatives to generate a cyclopropylzinc intermediate that could be trapped with a variety of electrophiles. 1,2,3-Substituted cyclopropane derivatives are formed with excellent diastereoselectivities by using this simple procedure.