A diastereomeric mixture of nitriles1a,bwas prepared by a Strecker synthesis from D-glyceraldehyde acetonide and benzylamine. The reported selective hydrolysis of the acetonide group of1acould not be accomplished. Nitrile diastereomers1a,bwere carried forward as a mixture to amines3a,bwhere the diastereomers were readily separable. The hydrochloride of3awas transformed via sequential debenzylation,N-acetylation, reduction, and exhaustive acetylation to the 2-amino-2-deoxy-D-threose derivatives5and6. The corresponding 2-amino-2-deoxy-D-erythrose derivatives10aand11were prepared similarly from amine3b.