A general procedure for the stereoselective Synthesis of 2-deoxy-2-iodo-hexo- and -hepto-pyranosyl glycosides from furanoses is reported. The proposed methodology provides a new route for accessing 2-deoxy-oligosacchari des. The procedure involves three reactions: Wittig-Horner olefination to give alkenyl sulfanyl derivatives, electrophilic iodine-induced cyclization to give phenyl 2-deoxy-2-iodo-1-thio-hexo-glycosides, and glycosylation. Protected furanoses 1, 3, and 6-11, which include examples of the four possible isomeric configurations of furanoses, were reacted with diphenyl phenyisulfanylmethyl phosphine oxide to give the alkenyl sulfanyl derivatives 2, 4, and 12-16. The iodine-induced cyclization of these compounds afforded the phenyl 2-deoxy-2-iodo-1-thio-glycosides 18, 20, and 22-27 with practically complete regio- and stereoselectivity. Products of 6-endo cyclization, in which the iodine at C-2 was in a cis relationship with the alkoxy at C-3, were almost exclusively produced. Better yields were obtained for compounds with a ribo or xylo configuration than for compounds with other configurations. Compounds 18, 20, and 22-27 were found to be efficient glycosyl donors in the glycosylation of cholesterol and glucopyranoside 29a, affording the corresponding 2-deoxy-2-iodo-glycosides and 2-deoxy-2-iodo-oligosaccharides with good yields and stereoselectivities. The glycosydic bond in the major isomers was always trans to the iodine at C-2.