A building block approach was used to design a modular synthetic route for the preparation of novel glycerolipids with phenolic and polyphenolic headgroups. Based on this scheme, it is possible to vary the substitution pattern of the headgroup, the stereochemistry of the backbone, and the length of the sidechains. Five glycerolipids with different headgroups and identical backbone stereochemistry and chain length have been prepared.Key words: glycerolipid, polyphenol, hydrogen bonding, lipid-protein interaction, self-adhering.