Facile C-H alkylation in water: enabling defect-free materials for optoelectronic devices.

A facile method for the alkylation of fluorene achieved via direct C-H alkylation under aqueous conditions is reported, wherein the formation of fluorenone is inhibited, resulting in the exclusive formation of the desired dialkyl-substituted fluorene monomer. As a proof of concept, this method has also been successfully extended to perform N-alkylation of carbazole, diphenylamine, and N,N-dialkylation of aniline in high yields.