A general procedure for the asymmetric synthesis of highly substituted 1,2-amino alcohols in high yield and diastereoselectivity is described that uses organometallic additions of a wide range of nucleophiles to tertbutylsulfinimines as the key step. The addition of organolithium reagents to these imines follows a modified Davis model. The diastereoselectivity for this reaction depends significantly on both the nucleophile and electrophile. These highly substituted 1,2-amino alcohols are used to synthesize stereochemically diverse and structurally novel, polysubstituted 2,2′-methylene(bisoxazoline) ligands in high yields.