A mild two-step method was used to cleave the lactam ring of the tricyclic intermediate 1. A key racemic amino alcohol precursor 5 for the construction of Et-743 skeleton was synthesized from 1 through four steps in total yield of 47%. A mild two-step method was used to cleave the lactam ring of the tricyclic intermediate 1. A key racemic amino alcohol precursor 5 for the construction of Et-743 skeleton was synthesized from 1 through four steps in total yield of 47%.