Reported herein is the total synthesis of zincophorin methylester, a polyketide ionophore. Of particular interest is the use of sterically hindered nucleophiles to surmount the unfavorable stereochemical outcome, leading to acetate aldol adducts, in nucleophilic addition to the aldehyde derived from propionates. The approach is based on the addition of an enoxysilane (bearing a removable phenylselenide