. 66, 2805 (1988).Reduction of dimethyl 3-hydroxy-4,4,8-trimethyl-6-oxo-cis-bicyclo[3.3.0]octa-2,7-diene-1,2-dicarboxylate (8) with lithium and ammonia gives dimethyl 3-hydroxy-4,4,exo-8-trimethyl-6-oxo-cis-bicyclo[3.3.O]oct-2-ene-l,2-dicarboxylate (9), which on acetylation, reduction with sodium borohydride, and methanolysis gives dimethyl 3,exo-6-dihydroxy-4,4,exo-8-trimethylcis-bicyclo[3.3.0]oct-2-ene-1,2-dicarboxylate (12). This on 2-decarbomethoxylation followed by treatment with lithium acetylide in the presence of cerium trichloride gives methyl 3-ethynyl-3,exo-6-dihydroxy-4,4,exo-8-trimethyl-cisbicyclo[3.3.0]octane-1-carboxylate (21), which on hydration, diacetylation, and treatment with tri-n-butyltin hydride and azoisobutyronitrile is converted to methyl exo-6-acetoxy-3-acetyl-4,4,exo-8-trimethyl-cis-bicyclo[3.3.O]octane-l-carboxylate (31). Methanolysis of 31. tert-butyldimethylsilylation, and reaction with potassium tert-butoxide in tert-butyl alcohol gives exo-4-tert-butyldimethylsilyloxy-exo-2,6,6-tmthyl[5.3.l~~~]undecane-8,10-dione (35). This on treatment with lithium aluminum hydride followed by oxidation and hydrogenation provides the corresponding 10-deoxo compound, 39. Reaction of this with methyllithium, dehydration, and desilylation with hydrogen fluoride in acetonitrile gives a mixture of (5) Introduction a-Biotol (1) and P-biotol (2), the exo-4-hydroxy derivatives of the prototypical cedranoid sesquiterpenes, a-cedrene (3) and P-cedrene (4), respectively (3), were isolated in 1968 from the alcoholic portion of the essential oil of the wood of Biota orientalis (4). These alcohols are minor components of the oil, cedrol (5) being one of the major components. Their gross structures were assigned on the basis of chemical and spectroscopic methods (4). To establish the relative stereochemistry at C-4, a-biotone (6), formed by oxidation of 1, was reduced with sodium borohydride to a mixture of 1 and 4-epi-a-biotol (7).