The invention relates to a novel method for the preparation of 4-phenyldibenzo[b,d]thiophene which can be conducted in one pot up to the thiophene ring formation. The synthesis is based upon dihalobenzenes and phenyllithium, which are readily obtainable, and can give higher yields (based upon either reactant) than the yields current methods, which use a synthetic pathway based upon dibenzo[b,d]thiophene.