The Ramirez ylide undergoes electrophilic substitution with dialkyl acetylenedicarboxylates, yielding a mixture of the Z and E adducts. The crystal structure analyses of the two adducts formed using dimethylacetylene, viz. dimethyl ( E)and (Z)-1-[2-(triphenylphosphoranylidene) cyclopentadien-1-yl] ethylenedicarboxylate, both C29H25O4P, explain an unusual chemical shift observed for the vinyl H atom of the Z adduct, which had previously precluded a definitive assignment of the isomers. In addition, the structures explain why only one of the isomers reacts further with acetylene esters to produce azulenes with a rare substitution pattern..