Abstract: The reactions of diethylketene and diphenylketene with various silyl enol ethers and the chemistry of some of the reaction products have been investigated. The formation of a rearranged adduct, in addition to the normally expected cyclobutanone, was taken as an indication that the reaction proceeds by an ionic mechanism. The same rearranged product arose from the thermolysis of a 3-silyloxycyclobutanone and a 2-silyloxyoxetane, which ...