3-tert-Butyl-6,6-dimethylfulvene undergoes smooth dimerization to give 1-(3-tert-butylcyclopentadienyl)-5-tert-butyl-1,3,3-trimethyltetrahydropentalene which is the precursor of novel chiral ansa-metallocene complexes of titanium and zirconium.(1) For two representative compounds the crystal and molecular structures were determined: (R,R,S)(S,S,R)-[1,2,1'-(4-methylpentane-2,2,4-triyl-4,3'-di-tert-butylbis(eta(5)-cyclopentadienyl)]-TiCl2, space group P2(1)/n, Z = 4, a = 17.713(9) Angstrom, b = 9.440(5) Angstrom, c = 14.243(9) Angstrom, gamma = 91.65(2)degrees, V = 2380.9 Angstrom(3), R = 0.038, R(w) = 0.042 on the basis of 1403 reflexions with I > 3 sigma; (R,R,R)(S,S,S)-[1,2,1'-(4-methylpentane-2,2,4-triyl)-4,3'-di-tert-butylbis(eta(5)-cyclopentadienyl)]-ZrCl2, space group P2(1)/n, Z = 4, a = 9.353(9) Angstrom, b = 12.398(9) Angstrom, c = 20.718(6) Angstrom, gamma = 81.68(2)degrees, V = 2377.1 Angstrom(3), R = 0.059, on the basis of 2144 reflexions with I > 3 sigma.