Conjugated 1-indanones dimerize under basic conditions to provide spirodimers. For example when 2-(E)-carbomethoxymethylene-1-indanone (5) was treated with Cs2CO3 in CH3CN, two spirodimers, 6 and 7, were produced via two modes of reaction (mode A and mode B). With 2-(E)-cyanomethylene-1-indanone (9) only mode A dimerized spiro products (10 and 11) were observed whereas with 2-chloromethylidene-1-indanone (12) a 1,2-dimer (13) was obtained instead of the expected spirodimer.Key words: dimerization, conjugated 1-indanones, spirodimers.