A superacid-promoted sequential domino one-pot approach for the synthesis of novel 10-phenyl-5,10-dihydroindeno[1,2-b]indoles, ubiquitous core structure present in many alkaloid natural products, is presented. The entire sequential process involves a domino intermolecular Friedel-Crafts alkylation and intramolecular acylation of simple and easily accessible ethyl cinnamates, to furnish the corresponding indanones, followed by the Fischer indole reaction. Interestingly, this method enabled the synthesis of various dihydroindeno[1,2-b]indoles possessing tertiary or quaternary centers at the 10th position © Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart New York Synthesis 2015.