Kulinkovich reactions of oxa‐esters bearing terminal double bonds afford cyclopropanols by intramolecular cyclization. These can undergo Saegusa oxidation to provide β‐chloro‐oxacycloalkanones and can then be then dehydrohalogenated into oxacycloalkenones. Through a judicious choice of starting esters, diverse aryl‐fused benzoxocinones possessing the basic skeleton of sesquiterpenes, such as heliannuols, can be obtained. Although the syntheses of certain compounds in racemic form seem accessible, however, improvements through new strategies are still required for the total asymmetric synthesis. This article describes the first synthesis of enantiomerically enriched OMe‐heliannuol K and the first stereo‐ and enantioselective synthesis of heliannuol L, and new approaches and studies of their limitations in the preparation of these products are detailed. (© Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2005)