Another one-liter flask fitted with an addition funnel is charged with 6-butenyl-6-methylfulvene (37 g, 253 mmol) and a stir bar, and cooled to 0° C. under a nitrogen atmosphere. The ether solution of 2,7-di-tert-butylfluorenyl lithium prepared as above is added in a dropwise fashion to the fulvene at 0° C. via the addition funnel over the course of approximately one hour. The resulting dark-colored reaction mixture is warmed to room temperature and stirred overnight (at least about 12 hours) under a nitrogen atmosphere. The reaction mixture is then quenched with the slow addition of a saturated NH4Cl/H2O solution (300 mL), the organic layer extracted with ether, washed twice with H2O (500 mL), dried over anhydrous Na2SO4, filtered, and the filtrate evaporated to dryness. The crude product obtained by this method is then dissolved in pentane and maintained at about 0° C. in a freezer, thereby affording the product as a white solid that is washed with cold pentane, dried under vacuum, and isolated and used without further purification. Further product could be isolated in smaller quantities through concentrating the mother liquors and combined washings and placing them back in freezer.
