Transformations of c~-chlovo-and a-bromobicyclo[3.3.1lnonanones under conditions of the Favorskii reaction were studied. The interaction of dihalodiketones with MeONa gives 2-oxatricyclo{4.3.1.03.SJdecane (oxaprotoadamantane) derivatives as a result of intramolecular cyclization, whereas 3-bromobicyc!ononanone undergoes only nucleophilic substitution of bromine.Key words: c~-halobicyclo[3.3.1Jnonanones, 2-oxatricyclo[4.3.1.03.SJdecane.Interconversion of bridged bicyclic and cage tricyclic organic structures is of considerable interest as regards the design of organic molecules I as well as studies dealing with stereochemistry and reaction mechanisms, z In this work, we report on a quite unexpected intramolecular cyclization of dihalo-derivatives of bicyclo[3.3.1]nonane-2,6-dione under conditions of the Favorskii reaction.The Favorskii rearrangement of ct-haloketones is a relatively convenient method for the synthesis of carboxylic acids. 3 The use of this reaction in the series of bridged bicyclic structures for the synthesis of the corresponding bicyclic acids has been reported. 4,5 In order to continue the studies dealing with the Favorskii rearrangement of bicyclic cc-haloketones, in the present work, we studied transformations of dichloro-and dibromobicyclo[3.3.1]nonane-2,6-diones under the action of MeONa. The halo-substituted diketones were prepared by halogenation of bicyclo[3.3.11nonane-2,6--dione (1) with 2 equiv, of Br 2 or CIr.It should be noted that the melting point of dibromoderivative 2a that we prepared (171--172 ~ differs substantially from that of the compound described previously (cf The main distinction between the synthetic procedures was duration of the reaction: in our study, the product was isolated 10 min after the addition of Br 2, whereas in the previous paper, the reaction was carried out for 3 h. Apparently, prolonged keeping of the reaction mixture led to epimerization of dibromoketone 2a to give a mixture of diastereomers. This follows from the IH NMR spectrum in which the signals at ~5 4.6 corresponding to the protons at C(3) and C(7) transform into a complex multiplet some time after the beginning of the reaction. In the I H NMR spectrum of dichlorodiketone 2b, the signal at 5 5.2 shows up as a doublet of doublets, and the t3C NMR spectrum contains signals for five carbon atoms of the bicyclic skeleton, in conformity with the symmetry of the molecule. To determine the configuration of the halogen atoms in the bicyclic molecule, we carried out bromination of ketone lb and found that under these conditions, the reaction yields the previously described 7 exo-bromoketone 2c. Relying on these results, we ascribed di-exo-configuration to the halogen atoms in dibromo-and dichlorodiketones 2a,h (cfi Ref. 8).Dibromo-and dichlorodiketones 2a,b react with MeONa under the conditions of the Favorskii reaction to give one product in each case (GLC); based on the spectral data, these products were identified as 4-halo-3-methoxy-2-oxatricyclo[4.3.1. OLS]decan -10-ones (3a,b) (oxaprotoadamantanon...