IN our synthesis of cardiolipins (1),1 the central glycerol unit was derived from the 2-O-substituted (2a). This precursor was chosen only after examining several possibilities. We provide here full details of the pre- paration of compound (2a), and compare its synthetic utility with that of other new protected glycerols (2b-d). In particular, the attempted application of (2a) to the synthesis of 1,3-diacylglycerols is described. Since we required cardiolipins and 1,3-diacylglycerols ...