The participation of ion-paired Lewis acid/Lewis base in the dehydrohalogenations of 1,2-dibromo-1,1 -diarylalkanes catalyzed by Fe0and by Fe(II) and Fe(III) bromides was investigated. The reactivities of the catalyst employed were correlated with their chemicalhardness. The influence ofparasubstituents on the phenyl rings of the substrates and the results obtained in Lewis-acid-catalyzed and thermal dehydrobromination of the same compounds were compared. The experimental results could not be explained in terms of a Lewis-acid-catalyzed dehydrobromination.Keywords: dehydrohalogenation, bromoalkanes, Lewis acid catalysts, ion-pair mechanism.