Termination of cyclic carbopalladation of alkynes via carbonylative lactamization can be achieved more satisfactorily with alkenyl or aryl halides containing an omega-carboxamido or omega-sulfonamido group than with those containing an omega-amino group. The method appears to be generally satisfactory for the preparation of fused cyclic systems consisting of six-membered rings, while the other cases require further development. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd