Skattebøl rearrangement

The Skattebøl rearrangement is an organic reaction for converting a geminal dihalo cyclopropane to an allene using an organolithium base. This rearrangement reaction is named after its discoverer, Lars Skattebøl, Professor emeritus at the University of Oslo. It proceeds through a carbene reaction intermediate:

When the cyclopropane ring is fitted with a 2-vinyl group, a cyclopentadiene is formed through a so-called foiled carbene intermediate. This process is more generally known as a vinylcyclopropane rearrangement.