You only need to supply the LASER diode with the Vf (drop of 2.2Vdc, you are correct), not 5V. BUT, you NEED to regulate the current supplied to be sure 1) you stay over the Threshold current for lasing for that diode, 2) you stay below the max current for the device, and 3) you maintain a consistiant On siginal for discrimination in comm and remote-ctl recvr ckts (digital modulation, as in TTL modulation (at TTL voltage levels) is full on and full off; analog modulation varies to some points between the two).
So,,, you dont use a voltage regulation in the driver circuit, you use current regulation.
A boost regulator (switching regulator) will work, but watch out for switching transients (spikes) if you are using a moderate to low power LD (i think one way to suppress this issue is to design with as large a cap as you can, and use something like a 10uF cap across the LD, you'll need to read up to check that value, using foggy memory).
Some of us over on LPF have experimented with using 808nm LD's for night vision illum and I.R. remoting. If you are thinking of using an un-collimated diode for greater siginal dispersion (wider field exposure to the recvr), you'll find that high output I.R. LEDs work much better. If you are planning on collimated output, you'll find that you can get by with a lower power diode, for the same distance, but emitter/recvr alignment is a bitch. Again, good luck with the project and BE CAREFULL with the LD's (you won't know how much exposure you are getting from the output and reflections, etc.