Strategy for the resolution of a chiral dearomatization agent:[TpRe(CO)(1-methylimidazole)] coordination of alpha-pinene (Tp = hydridotris(pyrazolyl)borate).

A methodology for resolving TpRe(CO)(1-methylimidazole)(eta(2)-benzene) has been developed utilizing (R)-alpha-pinene. Each enantiomer of the [TpRe(CO)(MeIm)] system can be obtained with the enantiomer ratio (er) = 97:3 by taking advantage of differing rates of pinene substitution for the two diastereomers of TpRe(CO)(MeIm)(eta(2)-(R)-alpha-pinene).