Deoxygenation of epothilone B (I) by means of tungsten hexachloride and butyllithium produced the olefin epothilone D (II). After protection of (II) as the bis-O-silylated derivative (III), cyclopropanation with chloroiodomethane and diethylzinc afforded the cyclopropane adduct (IV). A higher yield procedure to prepare (IV) involved addition of dibromocarbene, generated from bromoform and NaOH under phase-transfer conditions, to olefin (II), followed by reduction of the resulting dibromocyclopropane (V) with azobisisobutyronitrile. Finally, desilylation employing trifluoroacetic acid furnished the title compound.