Cognizant of the strengths and limitations of both systems, the need for an improved second-generation approach was apparent. An improved method would consist of a desymmetrization step employing a wide range of (medicinally relevant) phenol nucleophiles (not only those which are ortho-substituted) and a derivatization step whereby the second leaving group could be displaced directly by complex, biologically relevant nucleophiles (avoiding the need for sequential enantiospecific displacements). Ideally, the phenol substituent could itself be replaced to provide access to an even wider range of enantioenriched P(V) compounds.