Results The results of experiments in which 1 was treated with trichloromethyl anion and/or dichlorocarbene, generated by a number of standard methods, are shown in Table I. In only two cases, the sodium trichloroacetate and phenyl-(bromodichloromethy1) mercury thermolyses, were there extensive reactions with chlorine-containing intermediates, the major product being 9-dichloromethylenefluorene (2) in each case (reactions 1-3 in Table ...