The article concerns the total synthesis of galanthamine, a drug used for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.
The natural source of galantamine are certain species of daffodil and because these species are scarce and because the isolation of galanthamine from daffodil is expensive (a 1996 figure specifies 50,000 US dollar per kilogram, the yield from daffodil is 0.1–0.2% dry weight) alternative synthetic sources are under development by means of total synthesis.