Methods for allylic oxygenation of (+)-delta-cadinol by SeO2 have been developed to study approaches to the formation of the eleutheside core from it. Diasteromeric alcohols and the product of their 1,4-oxacyclization, which is transformed into a bicyclic derivative containing the required functional groups to study the final cyclization into the eleutheside core, were prepared. The a-hydroxy derivative was converted after benzylation and ozonolysis into a mixed acetal, a convenient compound for performing the synthesis via an alternate route.