Mono-and biscyclopentannulation of the bicyclic title dione (6) is described. The first breaks the symmetry of the starting material and provides a triquinane (19) suited for elaboration into natural products having this skeleton. The second provides a pair of tetraquinane diones: one new (13), the other (2) the key precursor for the synthesis of the norperistylane (4) and peristylane (5) systems. The cyclopentannulation method used involves ...