A synthesis of functionalized phenolic α-amino-alcohol (±)-13 as synthetic precursor of the catechol tetrahydroisoquinoline structure of phthalascidin 650 is disclosed. Starting from 3-methylcatechol 5, eight steps of synthesis give rise to the synthesis of phenolic α-amino-alcohol (±)-13 in 27% overall yield. This synthetic strategy involves the elaboration of fully functionalized aromatic aldehyde 8 and its transformation into a phenolic α-amino-alcohol (±)-13, through a Knoevenagel condensation, simultaneous reduction of nitroketene and ester functions and hydrogenolysis of the benzyl protecting group. The pentacycle (±)-18 was obtained after four additional steps. The Pictet–Spengler cyclisation between the phenolic α-amino-alcohol (±)-13 and N-protected α-amino-aldehyde 4 allowed to obtain (1,3′)-bis-tetrahydroisoquinoline 14 with N-methylated and N-Fmoc removed. The last step was a Swern oxidation for allowing an intramolecular condensation.