Ruthenium‐Catalyzed, One‐Pot Alcohol Oxidation–Wittig Reaction Producing α,β‐Unsaturated Esters

By a one‐pot process, α,β‐unsaturated esters were synthesized in high yield through the Ru‐catalyzed oxidation of primary alcohols and the coupling of the resulting aldehydes and stabilized Wittig reagents. The ruthenium catalyst is composed of ruthenium nanoparticles embedded in aluminum oxyhydroxide and can be recovered simply by filtration or decantation.(© Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2009)