Abstract A facile synthesis of 1, 7, 8-trifluoro-2-naphthol, an important synthetic intermediate for liquid crystal compounds with a 1, 7, 8-trifluoronaphthalene structure, was developed starting from 4-bromo-1, 2-difluorobenzene via DMAP catalyzed intramolecular cycloaromatization in 51% overall yield for the 6 steps.