The syntheses of functionalized norbornadiene dimers 1 are described. These cage compounds feature remarkably high Dzd symmetry as regards the dimethylene and dioxo derivatives I d and le. On the other hand, the mixed enone compound 1 f behaves differently: rCc and lone-pair nco orbitals mix strongly with each other, albeit only by means of the interveningfive-bond osystem.Al1 theoretical conclusions have been verified by using PE spectroscopy. A comparison is made between systems 1 and the geometrically similar adamantanes 2, on the one hand, and the attractive but still unknown derivatives of garudane 3 on the other hand. The latter exhibit the interesting parallel topology of suitable chromophores, thus making these polycycles 3 desirable candidates for transmission studies.Thc chemistry of cage-shaped hydrocarbons (polyhedranes, prismanes, polyquinanes, adamantanes) and their derivatives has attracted wide interest among both, theoretical and synthetic chemists'!. These aesthetically fascinating compounds continue to represent a synthetic challenge because of their increasing practical importance. For instancc, their application as energy materials') and as medicinal substances4', e. g. antiviral agcnts5), has been reccntly discusscd. Bcsidcs thcsc practical purposes cage-shaped hydrocarbons often provide conformationally fixed carbocyclic skeletons with a defined inherent symmetry. In this regard they become particularly interesting objects of spectroscopical and theoretical studies. However, syntheses of such cage compounds are sometimes tedious since assembling a highly compact structure is an entropydisfavored process. One example how to overcome this difficulty by organometallic means is the efficient formation of the eightmembered polyquinane l a (heptacyclo[6.6.0.02~6.0~~'3.04J~.05~9.0'oJ4]-tetradecane6)) which is commonly referred to as HCTD. The octaquinane l a is formed in one step by metal-assisted dimerization of norbornadiene (NBD). This was first observed in 1961 'land since then has been studied extensively". An ordinary dimcrization of NBD generally produces several isomers simultaneouslyY). Only a few stereospecific reactions have been known ''I. Recently, one of us reported a stereospecific endo-cis-endo coupling of NBD in the presence of hexacarbonylmolybdenum 'I). The resulting cage dimer l a is formed exclusively in a yield of 26%. Dimerization of 7-tertbutoxynorbornadiene12' and related NBD derivativesl3I gave access to HCTD derivatives oxygenated in the 7,12-p0sition'~). In the presence of hexacarbonylmolybdenum the dimer of tert-butoxynorbornadiene was also formed in a stereospecific reaction 15), thus facilitating the syntheses of monoketone l b and diketone ld'@.In the present communication we will report on the preparation of the corresponding olefines l c and le, respectively, as well as of the "mixed" enone lf, in order to provide a series of HCDT derivatives with a common structural feature: Due to the stereospecific cross dimerization of NBD the carbocyclic skeletons of 1 a-1 f ...