Fosfazinomycins A and B produced by Streptomyces lavendofoliae share the same phosphonate moiety with one chiral centre of unknown configuration which was determined by synthesising both enantiomers of 2-hydroxy-2-phosphonoacetic acid methyl ester. A chiral cyclic phosphite was reacted with methyl glyoxylate in a Pudovik reaction to give a pair of diastereomeric α-hydroxyphosphonates, which were separated by HPLC. The configurations at C-2 were assigned on the basis of single crystal X-ray structure analysis. Deprotection of these diastereomers furnished the enantiomeric α-hydroxyphosphonic acids, of which the (S)-configured had the same sign of optical rotation as the phosphonic acid moiety of the two fosfazinomycins.