A Noyori-type ruthenium catalyst was immobilized on magnetic platforms consisting of carbon-coated cobalt nanoparticles and different polymers. Both reactivity and enantioselectivity of these catalysts were benchmarked in the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of acetophenone in an aqueous medium. The best catalyst, having connected the ruthenium catalyst to the nanoparticle by a poly(styrene) matrix, was characterized by infrared (IR) spectroscopy and via a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) to determine the saturation magnetization of the magnetic material as well as by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). A variety of aryl methyl ketones could be reduced to their corresponding alcohols with good yields (81–100%) and selectivity (91–99% ee), and catalyst recovery and reuse was evaluated over 10 runs with ruthenium leaching into the product of <10 ppm, meeting the pharmaceutical requirements for ruthenium impurities of orally available drugs.Keywords: Asymmetric catalysis; Asymmetric transfer hydrogenation; Immobilized catalyst; Magnetic nanoparticle; Organic−inorganic hybrid material; Recycling; Ruthenium