A potent antiinflammatory methyl picolinate alkaloid CJ-14877 [(+)-1] and its enantiomer (-)-1 were synthesized in two steps starting from commercially available methyl 5-bromopicolinate. The synthesis includes microwave-assisted Suzuki coupling reaction and Sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.