Silylation of 5-iodocytosine (I) with hexamethyldisilazane, followed by condensation with 5-deoxy-1,2,3-tri-O-acetyl-D-ribofuranoside (II) in the presence of stannic chloride provided 2',3'-di-O-acetyl-5'-deoxy-5-iodocytidine (III). The title vinylcytidine derivative was then obtained by displacement of the iodine atom of (III) with tri-n-butyl(vinyl)stannane (IV) using palladium catalyst and trifurylphosphine.