Stereoselectivity Switch in the Trapping of Polar Organometallics with Andersen’s ReagentAccess to Highly Stereoenriched Transformable Biphenyls

The trapping of racemic polar carbometallic species with (−)-menthyl (S S)-p-toluenesulfinate (Andersen’s reagent) typically proceeds with a very low level of resolution. In this paper, we describe a strategy that allows access to highly atropo-enriched and functionalizable biphenyls by means of Andersen’s reagent under kinetic resolution conditions. In particular, useful enantiopure 2-iodobiphenyls could be obtained and were employed in a challenging hypervalent iodine-catalyzed oxidation reaction.