A two-step conversion of 1,3-disubstituted arenes to chiral alpha,alpha-diaryl methylammonium chlorides is described. In this procedure, arenes are converted to aryl boronic esters by iridium-catalyzed borylation, and the aryl boronic esters are converted to enantioenriched amines by subsequent rhodium-catalyzed addition to chiral tert-butanesulfinimes. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.