An efficient and practical synthetic method of △1 -3-octalone, which is a versatile building block for thesyntheses of polycyclic compounds, has been developed. The dianion of ethyl acetoacetate reacts with cyclohexene-1-carboxaldehyde (3) to produce the aldol adduct 6, which then undergoes Mn(Ⅲ)-mediated radical cyclization followed by acetate elimination to give △1 -3-octalone 4. A detailed mechanistic insight of Mn(Ⅲ)-mediated cyclization of 6 has been disclosed.