Taxol, used in the treatment of breast cancer, is produced by fungi in the bark of the Pacific Yew tree. Taxol is part of a class of structurally related natural compounds called taxanes that represent particularly challenging synthetic targets for organic chemists due to the complexity of their structure. In an effort to prepare a key eight-membered ring of taxol, compound 1 was prepared and treated with 9-BBN to give compound 2, followed by addition of a palladium catalyst under basic conditions, giving compound 3. Draw structures for compounds 2 and 3.