Palladium complex PdCl2(dppf) and nickel complex NiCl2(dppe) catalyze cross-coupling of unsaturated aryloxy carbohydrates with phenylmagnesium bromide. The nickel catalyst leads to inversion of configuration at the anomeric center while only retention occurs in the case of the palladium catalyst. This quite unusal retention is probably due to the influence of the ring oxygen atom (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.