The first total synthesis of the proposed structure of pandangolide 1 is reported. The synthesis was carried out using both an organocatalytic approach and a chiral-pool approach. The required stereochemistry at C-3 and C-5 was installed by using an organocatalytic aldol reaction and a stereoselective ketone reduction. The construction of the 12-membered core was achieved by 2-methyl-6-nitrobenzoic anhydride-mediated Shiina lactonization. The structure of target molecule was confirmed unambiguously by single-crystal X-ray analysis, but the optical rotation and NMR spectroscopic data of the synthetic pandangolide 1 were found to be inconsistent with the natural product.