Abstract: 

Illicium sesquiterpenes showcase diverse polycyclic scaffolds and complex oxygenation patterns. In pursuit of an illicium natural product called illihenin A, total syntheses of helifolenals A–D were achieved. I will share my unpublished work on enantiospecific syntheses of helifolenals A–D featuring an intramolecular Diels–Alder reaction and discuss a biomimetic strategy to illihenin A.