(4bS,8aS)-1-Isopropyl-4b,8,8-trimethyl-4b,5,6,7,8,8a,9,10-octa-hydro-phenan-thren-2-yl acetate.

The hemisynthesis of the title compound, C22H32O2, was carried out through direct acetyl-ation reaction of the naturally occurring diterpene totarol [systematic name: (4bS,8aS)-4b,8,8-trimethyl-1-propan-2-yl-5,6,7,8a,9,10-hexa-hydro-phen-an-thren-2-ol]. The mol-ecule is built up from three fused six membered rings, one saturated and two unsaturated. The central unsaturated ring has a half-chair conformation, whereas the other unsaturated ring displays a chair conformation. The absolute configuration is deduced from the chemical pathway. The value of the Hooft parameter [-0.10 (6)] allowed this absolute configuration to be confirmed.