Upon reduction by zinc in acetic acid or by warm alkaline dithionite, V furnished nearly colorless solutions from which 1, 4-dihydroxy-9-phenyl-2, 3-benzofluorene (IX) was isolated as a solid which rapidly turned red in air and was not purified. More stable were the 1, 4- diacetate of IX, which resembled in ultraviolet spectrum its 9-hydroxy and 9-acetoxy derivatives, 8 and the 4-methyl ether X, which was obtained by reduction of VI1 and ...