Has been used in a synthesis of D-amino acids. The configuration is inverted by conversion of the carboxyl group to the new alkyl chain by reaction with an organolithium reagent to give the ketone, which is deoxygenated by Raney nickel desulfurization of the thioketal, the hydroxymethyl group becoming the new carboxyl group by oxidation with oxygen over a Pt catalyst: J. Am. Chem. Soc., 106, 1095 (1984).
