A facile and direct synthetic entry to the carbon skeleton of Clausena alkaloids, the benzo[d]azocin-4-one, is reported featuring the ring expansion of 1-phenyldihydroisoquinoline derivatives initially triggered by oxazolone under environmentally benign conditions in a onepot procedure. Functionalization of the eight-membered lactam framework provided a set of Clausena alkaloid derivatives. Some derivatives show a promising inhibition toward acetylcholinesterase and a better selectivity index than the previously used Alzheimer s disease (AD) drug, tacrine, and the currently used AD drug, galantamine. © 2023 Thieme. All rights reserved.