Abstract The silver salts 1a–d react with 9-bromofluorene to give both C-and O-alkylated products 2 and 3. The latter decompose to yield 9-fluorenone and the α-cyanooximes 5. The products 2 upon treatment with NaOH/EtOH eliminate HNO 2 to afford 9-(α-cyanoarylidene) fluorenes 4 in 80% yield. 9-Chloro-9-phenylfluorene reacts with the salt 1a to give only the C- alkylated product 6 in 70% yield.
