Benzo[h]isoquinoline scaffold is of interest as a rigid subunit that can be useful for constructing biologically active products. However, no good-yielded synthetic pathway to this ring system has been reported yet. Herein, a facile one-pot synthesis from N-aryl itaconimides and 1,3-diarylisobenzofuran via strong acid triggered skeletal rearrangement reaction is described. Theoretical study for this rearrangement is provided at M11/cc-pVDZ level of theory. Antitumor activity of obtained benzo[h]isoquinoline derivatives against human erythroleukemia K562 cell line was evaluated in vitro by MTS-assay.