methods for the preparation of fluorenyl - type ligand structures and substituted fluorenyl groups which may be employed in metallocene - type olefin polymerization catalysts . there is provided a 2 , 2 ′- dihalogen - diphenylmethylene having a methylene bridge connecting a pair of phenyl groups . each phenyl group has a halogen on a proximal carbon atom relative to the methylene bridge . the halogenated diphenylmethylene is reacted with a coupling agent comprising a group 2 or 12 transition metal in the presence of a nickel or palladium - based catalyst to remove the halogen atoms from the phenyl groups and couple the phenyl groups at the proximal carbon atoms to produce a fluorene ligand structure . the coupling agent may be zinc , cadmium or magnesium and the catalyst may be a monophosphene nickel complex . the halogenated diphenylmethylene may be an unsubstituted ligand structure or a monosubstituted or disubstituted ligand structure . the halogenated diphenylmethylene may be monosubstituted with a tertiary butyl group or may be a dialkyl diphenylmethylene having alkyl substituents at the directly distal positions of the phenyl groups relative to the methylene bridge .