The first palladium-catalyzed reductive phenylation of norbornene (1) was published by Larock and Johnson [1] in 1989; since then the high synthetic potential of the hydroarylation [2] and especially its asymmetric variant [3] with bicyclic alkenes for the one-step construction of three asymmetric centers has induced a line of follow-up papers. This situation is especially true for the hydroarylation of the 7-aza-and oxabicyclic alkenes 2 (Scheme 1) [2b±d, 3c] as this synthetic route even in the case of the asymmetric pathway leads directly to the biologically highly active alkaloid Epibatidine [4] and its analogues.As we are interested in both the hydroarylation of bicyclic alkenes and, herein, in the use of these products in the stereoselective synthesis of substituted cyclopentane derivatives, we have investigated the hydroarylation followed by reductive cleavage of the easily accessible [5] 2,3-diazabicyclo[2.2.1]heptenes 3, [6] in which the N À N [7] or C À N bond [8] represents an internal point of fracture.Recently, we have reported the first palladium-catalyzed hydroarylation of the N,N'-diethoxycarbonyl-substituted derivative 4 of 3 with triethylamine as a base. [6] The following selective NÀN bond cleavage opens a highly stereoselective way to the trans-4-aryl-cis-1,3-diaminocyclopentanes 6 (Scheme 2).Encouraged by this initial result, we turned to the hydroarylation of the sterically more hindered and more rigid, trior tetracyclic Diels±Alder adducts of 1,3-cyclopentadiene with the very reactive azodienophiles 4-phenyl-1,2,4-triazoline-3,5-dione (7 a) and 2,3-phthalazine-1,4-dione (7 b). The reaction of 7 a with iodobenzene was chosen as a model system with which to optimize the reaction conditions; selected experiments are shown in Table 1.We started with the reaction conditions (Et 3 N, DMF, 65 8C, entry 1) which were optimal in case of the hydroarylation of 4; besides 21 % of the expected hydroarylation product 8 a, compound 9 a was formed in 9 % as the product of a CÀN cleavage reaction. Formally, the formation of 9 a is the result of a 1,2-hydrazidoarylation on the primarily employed 1,3-cyclopentadiene. From the 1 H and 13 C NMR spectroscopic data it appeared that the trans isomer 9 a was formed exclusively. The structural assignment is difficult in case of five-membered ring systems; however, the stereochemistry was unambiguously supported by an X-ray analysis (Figure 1). [9,10] COMMUNICATIONS