"High-yield synthesis from styrene oxide or styrene glycol: G. Paparatto, G. Gregorio, Tetrahedron Letters 29, 1471 (1988)."
Unfortunately, this is a gas-phase reaction at ~200C. However, while looking this up at the library, I found the following other references:
Oxidation of styrene derivatives by peroxydisulfate(2-) ion-copper(II) in acetic acid and acetonitrile. Reaction paths in oxidations via radical cations
Cheves Walling, Gamil M. El-Taliawi, Kalyani Amarnath;
J. Am. Chem. Soc.; 1984 ;106 (24); 7573-7578.
Notes: This paper gives a method for oxidizing styrene to phenylacetaldehyde and benzaldehyde (yield ratios vary depending on the condentration). Everything looks pretty nice, especially if your goal is benzadehyde. The real question is whether this method can be applied to something like anisole...
The Preparation of Cinnamaldehydes by the Formylation of Styrenes
Claude J. Schmidle, Patricia G. Barnett;
J. Am. Chem. Soc.; 1956 ;78 (13); 3209-3210.
Notes: Styrene+phosphorus oxychloride+DMF-->cinnamaldehyde.
The Reaction of Styrene Oxide with Methylmagnesium Iodide
Calvin Golumbic, D. L. Cottle;
J. Am. Chem. Soc.; 1939 ;61 (5); 996-1000.
Notes: Grignard addition of MeI to styrene oxide gives P2Pol in 53% yield.
Simple Iron Catalyst for Terminal Alkene Epoxidation
Dubois, G.; Murphy, A.; Stack, T. D. P.;
Org. Lett.; (Communication); 2003 ;5(14); 2469-2472.
Abstract: A mu-oxo-iron(III) dimer, [((phen) 2(H 2O)Fe III )2(mu-O)](ClO 4)4, is an efficient epoxidation catalyst for a wide range of alkenes, including terminal alkenes, using peracetic acid as the oxidant. Low catalyst loadings, in situ catalyst preparation from common reagents, fast reaction times (<5 min at 0 C), and enhanced reaction performance at high substrate concentrations combine to create a temporally and synthetically efficient procedure for alkene epoxidation.
Synthesis of Phenethyl Alcohol by Catalytic Hydrogenation of Styrene Oxide
Yadav, V. G.; Chandalia, S. B.;
Org. Process Res. Dev.; (Article); 1998 ;2(5); 294-297.
Abstract: In the current work, phenethyl alcohol was synthesized by the hydrogenation of styrene oxide, which may be obtained by the oxidation of styrene. Conventional method of synthesis of phenethyl alcohol is by the Friedel-Crafts alkylation of benzene by using ethylene oxide and molar quantities of aluminum chloride. This method causes effluent disposal problems due to the stoichiometric use of aluminum chloride as the aluminum oxychloride formed in the process is normally not recycled. The hydrogenation of styrene oxide was conducted by using Raney nickel catalyst and process conditions were established. The yield of phenethyl alcohol obtained was 90.2% with 92% overall conversion of styrene oxide under suitable conditions. Styrene oxide was also synthesized in the laboratory.