n-butyllithium in tetrahydrofuran; hexane under Ar, standard Schlenk techniques; n-BuLi in hexanes added dropwise to soln. of fluorene in THF at -78°C; warmed to room temp.; Mn complex in THF added; stirred overnight; modified from R. B. King et al., J. Organomet. Chem., 1970, 23, 527; solvent removed under vac.; purified by flash column chromy. (silica gel, hexane);
