The annelation of the pyrrolidine enamine of cyclohexanone with (E)-2-methyl-3-hepten-5-one (7) afforded a 7:3 mixture of the octalones 12 and 13. Lithium–ammonia reduction of the former afforded the trans-fused decalone 14, whereas, in contrast, a similar reduction of 13 gave exclusively the cis-fused decalone 16. Annelation of the pyrrolidine enamine of 4-hydroxy-cyclohexanone with the unsaturated ketone 7 yielded a 7:3 mixture of the octalones 22 and 23. The former was converted via a short, efficient synthetic sequence into (±)-cadinene dihydrochloride (30).