Polyene cyclization of compounds 3 and 4 under catalysis with AlCl3 and/or SnCl4 gave rise to complex bicyclic products 8 and 9, structures of which were highly unexpected, and X-ray analyses were invoked for unambiguously structural identification. Mechanistically, a tandem or-bond rearrangement process, including an unusual through-space 1,5-hydride or 1,3-alkyl shift as a key operation, is proposed.
