A novel strategy, free of coupling reagents and protection/deprotection steps, for the synthesis of oligo(2-hydroxyacid)s containing up to four monomer units with atom economy, sequence specificity, and control of stereocenter configuration is described. The strategy comprises an iterative application of the sequence asymmetric hydroformylation/oxidation/alkyne hydroacyloxylation that features catalytic, atom-economical C-C and C-O bond forming reactions. Asymmetric hydroformylation with Rh-bisdiazaphospholane catalyst introduces each stereocenter with high enantio- (ca. 93% e.e.), diastereo- (up to 25:1 d.r.), and regioselectivity (>50:1) at low catalyst loadings and mild pressures. The side chain in each monomer is tailored by choosing from a variety of readily available alkynes.