Synthesis of Symmetrical Phenacyl Benzoate Derivatives viaRuthenium Hydride–Catalyzed C–C and sp^2–C–O BondsFormation under Homogeneous and HeterogeneousConditions

In the present work, the catalytic activity of[ruhcl(co)(pph3)3] in the homogeneous form and also supported ongraphene oxide nanosheets in the efficient synthesis of phenacyl benzoatederivatives by the reaction of aldehydes with diethyl 2–(ethoxymethylene)malonate (demm) via hydrogen transfer is reported.under the same conditions, alcohols were also reacted with demm toprovide a set of phenacyl benzoate derivatives in good to excellent yields.in these reactions, c–c and sp^2–c–o bonds were formed by applying theruthenium catalyst. while the homogeneous catalyst is not recoverable, theheterogeneous counterpart was reused several times without loss of itsinitial activity.