The reaction of heteroaromatic carbanions RLi and (η^5-C_5H_5)Fe(CO)_2l complex in the presence of PPh_3 produces both (η^4-exo-RC_5H_5)Fe(CO)_2 PPh_3, the (η^5-C_5H_5)-ring alkylation product, and (η^5-C_5H_5)Fe(CO)(PPh_3)C(O)R, the CO-addition product. In the past, (η^5-C_5H_5)-ring alkylation was known to be much more favorable than CO-alkylation for common lithiated reagents. The heteroaromatic carbanions used in this study are 2-thiophenyllithium, 3-thiophenyllithium, 2-furanyllithium, 3-furanyllithium, N-methyl-2-pyrrolyllithium, and cyclopentadienyl sodium. The results from this series of fine-tuning experiments indicate that the influence of heteroatom on the neighboring carbon-nucleophile is sufficient to reverse of trend from favoring (η^5-C_5H_5)-addition to favoring CO-addition.