Acid-catalyzed reactions of 8-aryl or 8, 8-diarylbicyclo [4.2. 0] oct-2-en-7-ols lead to tetrahydrophenanthrene derivatives. For example 8-(1-naphthyl)-bicyclo [4.2. 0] oct-2-en-7- ols give substituted chrysenes in methanesulphonic acid. In the case of the homologous 7- aryl or 7, 7-diarylbicyclo [3.2. 0] hept-2-en-6-ols a novel transformation to diarlymethanes is observed. A mechanism is proposed which accounts for the product distribution observed ...