Ask a synthetic chemist how to convert an alkyne to a cis-alkene and they will barely pause for thought before suggesting hydrogenation with a heterogeneous Lindlar catalyst. This classic reaction is used on industrial scales requiring a substantial amount of precious metal palladium to produce alkene building blocks for polymers, pharmaceuticals, and countless other chemical products. Now, Ian Casely, Damian Grainger, Mark Crimmin and co-workers from Imperial College London and Johnson Matthey have described the first example of a catalytic semi-hydrogenation of alkynes to cis-alkenes using a zinc complex.