Sarcoglane (3), a secondary metabolite of the marine sponge, Sarcophytum glaucum, possesses an intriguing [7.5.0.0] tricyclotetradecenone.  Its structure suggests a biogenetic cationic cascade from geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (1) through the intermediacy of a cembrane cation (2).  The described work details efforts to construct the cembrane core (4) incorporating a halogen trigger to initiate the cyclization.  Efforts towards the synthesis of the cembrane (4) and a key synthetic intermediate, 8-trimethylsilylgeranial, will be discussed.