A New Route for the Preparation of Fluorene Derivatives using Friedel–Crafts Intramolecular Cyclobenzylation

A convenient preparation of fluorene derivatives based on a novel Friedel–Crafts intramolecular cyclobenzylation, involving the action of Cl 2 CHOMe and TiCl 4 on a variety of biphenyls (constructed such that electrophilic substitution occurs ortho to the biphenyl linkage), is described.