A mevalonate independent pathway for isoprenoid biosynthesis, the so-called MEP pathway, has been discovered recently and validated as new drug target for the development of antimalarials. Fosmidomycin, a phosphonate that interferes with this pathway through inhibition of DOXP reductoisomerase, is a promising clinically effective antimalarial agent. This project aims at the development of of enantiomerically pure alpha-substituted fosmidomycin analogues, which in their racemic form already showed superior in vitro and in vivo activity against P. falciparum and P. berghei. On the other hand, this project aims to devise a convenient synthesis for a series of novel β-substituted fosmidomycin analogues. The screening will be performed in collaboration with esteemed national and international research groups.