Abstract All twelve indolecarboxylic acids 1–12 carrying both a fluorine substituent and a carboxy group at the benzo ring have been prepared either directly from the corresponding fluoroindoles 13–16 or from the chlorinated derivatives 22, 23 and 25 by hydrogen/metal permutation (“metalation”), or from the bromo-or iodofluoroindoles 17–20 and 26, 27, 29 and 30 by halogen/metal permutation, the organometallic intermediate being each time ...