Experiments towards a synthesis of ecdysone ( 1) ([22 R]-2β, 3β, 14, 22, 25-pentahydroxy-5β, 14α-cholest-7-en-6-one) have led to 2β, 3β-dihydroxy-6-keto-5α-steroids. These could be epimerized to the corresponding 5β-series. The proposed configurational assignments are supported by physical data and chemical correlation.