An Efficient One-Pot Synthesis of Spiro[fluorene-9,9′-xanthene]

In an attempt to make compound 1, the authors fortuitously discovered a simple one-pot procedure to prepare compound 2 with any combination of H and Br at positions 2 and 7 of the fluorene ring system. Spiro compounds like 2 are of interest because of their possible utility in blue-light-emitting materials, as well as other applications where the stability and unique properties of the spiro-linkage offer advantages. The authors performed solution- and solid-state fluorescence studies on 3, a model compound, to display its blue emission.