Table 3. Substrate scope varying functional groups R² at the vinylic double bond ^a .

Entry	Substrates	Products	Yield b (%)
1			35
2			44
3			50 c
4			21 (68 d )
5			17

^aReaction conditions: N-tosylhydrazone (1h–l) (0.1 mmol, 1.0 equiv.), LiO^tBu (0.12 mmol, 1.2 equiv), [Co(TPP)] (5 mol%), benzene (2 mL), 60 °C, overnight.

^bIsolated yields after column chromatography (average of two experiments).

^cAlso 25% naphthalene isolated.

^dCrude yield, based on integration of the ¹H NMR signals using 1,3,5-trimethoxybenzene as internal standard.