Recebido em 16/8/04; aceito em 1/10/04; publicado na web em 17/2/05 SYNTHESIS OF INDANS: A SELECTION OF GENERAL AND EFFICIENT METHODS. The indan ring system is present in several compounds with important pharmacological properties. In this account recent examples of selected methods (Friedel-Crafts acylation, cycloaddition reactions, ring contraction, cyclization and resolution) for the synthesis of indans are discussed.