Naturally occurring terpenes constitute the largest group of natural products with complicated and variable structures and a great number of important biological activities。2-Methyl-D-erythreitol 4-phosphate (MEP) pathway is a newly found and established biosynthetic route for terpenoids and all the enzymes involved in this pathway can be used as targets for the screening of new antibiotics。Progress in chemical and enzymatic preparation of the key intermediates in MEP pathway，namely 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate and 2-methyl-D-erythreitol 4-phosphate is reviewed with the emphasis on the synthesis of these two compounds with isotope labels.

Key words: terpenoid, biosynthesis, MEP pathway, intermediate, isotope label