Ceric ammonium nitrate efficiently catalyses the reaction of acenaphthenequinone with indoles afforded symmetrical 2,2-bis(1H-indol-3-yl)acenaphthen-1(2H)-one in excellent yields within 2h under ethanol refluxing, as well as 2-hydroxy-2-indolylacenaphthen-1(2H)-one with indoles afforded the corresponding unsymmetrical 2,2-bis(1H-indol-3-yl)acenaphthen-1(2H)-one. This provides an efficient route to the synthesis of symmetrical and unsymmetrical 2,2-bis(1H-indol-3-yl)acenaphthen-1(2H)-one derivatives.