Angustureine, isolated from the bark of Galipea officinalis Hancock, is a novel quinoline alkaloid with a n-pentyl side chain at the 2-position. The total synthesis of (+)-(S)-angustureine and a determination of the absolute configuration of the natural product angustureine were achieved using ring-closing metathesis (RCM) and the Mitsunobu reaction as key steps. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.