Ru-Sn-B/Al2O3 catalysts for selective hydrogenation of methyl oleate: Influence of the Ru/Sn Ratio

This study focuses on the influence of the ru/sn ratio on the catalytic hydrogenation of methyl oleate to oleyl alcohol using ru-sn-b catalysts,notably on the catalytic activity and selectivity. sn addition acts positively over the oleyl selectivity by reducing the rates of c=o and c=c saturation but also decreases the global activity. the catalyst with the highest activity and selectivity towards oleyl alcohol is ru(1%)-sn(2%)-b/al2o3. at a low sn loading (0.5%) the catalyst has high activity for hydrogenation of the carbonyl group and the carbon-carbon double bond. as a consequence stearyl alcohol is produced with high yield. at a high sn content (4%) the catalyst has lower selectivity to oleyl alcohol due to its low capacity for hydrogenating the carbonyl group. however it has enough activity for hydrogenating the c=c double bonds to produce the saturated methyl ester. © 2015 maría a. sánchez et al.