Friedel-Crafts alkylation of 2-methylfuran with 1-arylalkanols without employing anhydrous conditions. The chemoselective oxidation of the furanring in 1-arylalkylfurans to carboxylic acid was then investigated. In a solvent system of hexane-EtOAc/H 2 O (1:3:4), the furanring was selectively oxidized with 7 equivalents of NaIO 4 by using 0.5 mol% RuCl 3 as catalyst to give 2-arylalkanoic acids in good yields