The first vanadium alkylidyne (neutral and cationic) was prepared in our group via an oxidatively-induced α-H abstraction route from a vanadium alkylidene alkyl precursor. The V-C distance (1.674(2) Å) is exceedingly short with a linear V-C-C angle (177.6(9)o). This system is a powerful CtBu transfer reagent. For more information about this species: Basuli, F., etal. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 126, 10506-10507.