Wadsworth-Emmons (Horner) reaction with aldehydes and ketones gives acrylic esters. See, e.g.: Org. Synth. Coll., 5, 509, 547 (1973)
Base-catalyzed aldol, Cannizzaro and saponification reactions can be minimized, by the use of, e.g.: K2CO3: Synthesis, 300 (1983); Tetrahedron Lett., 26, 53 (1985); F-: Tetrahedron Lett., 21, 2161 (1980); N-ethyldiisopropylamine + LiCl: Tetrahedron Lett., 25, 2183 (1984); Et3N + Li halides: J. Org. Chem., 50, 2624 (1985).
Reaction with aqueous formaldehyde does not lead to the "expected" Wadsworth-Emmons product, but to ethyl ɑ-(hydroxymethyl)acrylate, a precursor of the synthetically useful ethyl ɑ-bromomethylacrylate, by condensation with the initially-formed "aldol" product: Org. Synth. Coll., 8, 265 (1993).
