In 1998 Kam and co-workers reported on the isolation of the alkaloid (−)-rhazinal (1) from the stem extracts of a Malayan Kopsia species. 1 The compound had also been prepared by Vilsmeier–Haack formylation 2 of the closely related alkaloid (−)-rhazinilam (2), first isolated in 1965 from Melodinus australia, 3 then again in 1970 from Rhazya stricta (Apocynaceae) 4 and most recently (1987) from the Malaysian plant Kopsia singapurensis (Ridlay). 5 ...