Ruthenium-Catalyzed Cascade C—H Functionalization of Phenylacetophenones**

Three orthogonal cascade C—H functionalization processes are described, based on ruthenium-catalyzed C—H alkenylation. 1-Indanones, indeno indenes, and indeno furanones were accessed through cascade pathways by using arylacetophenones as substrates under conditions of catalytic [{Ru(p-cymene)Cl(2)}(2)] and stoichiometric Cu(OAc)(2). Each transformation uses C—H functionalization methods to form C—C bonds sequentially, with the indeno furanone synthesis featuring a C—O bond formation as the terminating step. This work demonstrates the power of ruthenium-catalyzed alkenylation as a platform reaction to develop more complex transformations, with multiple C—H functionalization steps taking place in a single operation to access novel carbocyclic structures.