Enantioselective total synthesis of (+)-ottelione A (1) and (-)-ottelione B (2), novel and potent antitumor agents from a freshwater plant, and (+)-3-epi-ottelione A (3), the earlier proposed stereostructure of 1, was efficiently achieved starting from the known tricyclic compound 10. The synthesis involved the following key steps: i) coupling reactions of aldehydes 8 and 9 with the aromatic portion