Hydrogenation catalyst, process for preparing and process of using said catalyst

摘要

In one embodiment, the invention relates to a catalyst in powdered form which comprises a major amount of the oxides of copper and zinc, and a minor amount of aluminum oxide wherein the pore volume of pores of said catalysts having a diameter between about 120 and about 1000 ANGSTROM is at least about 40% of the total pore volume. In another embodiment, the invention relates to a process for preparing hydrogenation catalysts comprising the oxides of copper, zinc and aluminum which comprises the steps of (A) preparing a first aqueous solution containing at least one water-soluble copper salt and at least one water-soluble zinc salt; (B) preparing a second solution containing at least one water-soluble basic aluminum salt and at least one alkaline precipitating agent; (C) mixing the first and second solutions whereby an insoluble solid is formed; (D) recovering the insoluble solid. The invention also relates to a process for hydrogenating aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic acids and carboxylic acid esters with catalysts of the type described. Catalysts of the invention are useful in both fixed bed and slurry phase hydrogenation reactions.