Tetrahydrofuran → (R)-6-bromohexan-2-ol

The Grignard reaction was performed, as in example 2, with the following amounts: DICHED (R)-1-chloro-5-bromopentylboronate, 20.04 g; 3.0N methylmagnesium bromide, 16.7 ml; 150 ml of THF. The oxidation of the DICHED boronate to give (R)-6-bromohexan-2-ol was performed by dissolving the DICHED 5-bromo-1-methylpentylboronate in THF (10 ml) in a 50 ml flask. Water (10 ml) was added and the solution. The solution was cooled to 0° C. while stirring under argon. Sodium carbonate (16.5 ml of a 3M solution) was added, followed by 8 ml of 30% hydrogen peroxide. The solution was filtered, 20 ml of pentane added, and filtered again. The aqueous phase was separated and washed with pentane (2×10 ml). The organic phase was dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and the solvent evaporated to give (R)-6-bromo-hexan-2-ol in a crude yield of 8.9 g. Vacuum distillation provided a yield of 7.1 g (84%) of pure material with a rotation of -13.89 [α]549.