The bicyclic acetal 1, a key intermediate in previous synthetic studies on tirandamycin A, has been prepared in enantiomerically pure form starting from the (R)-ethylketone 2 and the aldehyde 3. A reagent controlled aldol reaction using (-)-(Ipc)2BOTf selectively gave the 1,2-syn-2,4-syn adduct 4, which was subsequently converted into 1 via the 1,3-anti diol 5.