We designed and synthesized polyhydroxylated pyrrolidines 1-12 from L-tyrosine, L-phenylalanine, and D-tyrosine through iodine-mediated intramolecular cyclization followed by Woodward-Prevost reaction. The synthetic polyhydroxylated pyrrolidines were identified with structure-based inhibitory activity and selective inhibitory activity against alpha-rhamnosidase. (2S,3S,4R)-deacetyl anisomycin 7 was the best inhibitor among the 12 polyhydroxylated pyrrolidines because it possesses the same stereoconfiguration at C1, C2, C3 as alpha-L-rhamnopyranoside. An investigation into the nature of the inhibition showed that the synthetic pyrrolidines are competitive inhibitors. They also did not have remarkable inhibitory activity against seven glycosidases (alpha-glucosidase, alpha-mannosidase, alpha-amylase, beta-glucosidase, beta-galactosidase, beta-amylase, and invertase).