Among the tiniest Daphniphyllum alkaloid subfamilies, daphnezomine A-type alkaloids consist of only three known members, namely daphnezomine A (1), daphnezomine B (2) and dapholdhamine B. These alkaloids contain a unique aza-adamantane core along with nine contiguous stereogenic centers, thus presenting remarkable synthetic challenges. The synthesis of tetracyclic core structure of 1 and 2 was reported. The key steps in our approach include a Huang's amide-activa tion-annulation and a Hutchins-Kabalka reductive rearrangement.