Studies were carried out on the rates of lithiation of 9-arylfluorenes, in which the aryls are hydrocarbons. The reactivities of these compounds are explained in terms of the effective blocking of the reaction site by the substituent. The steric effect of the substituent which is attached to the aryl group but is over the fluorene ring is found to play a role in the reactivities.
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Nakamura et al. (1977) studied this question.