Nickel-aluminium alloy is treated with caustic soda solution. The mother liquor is decanted and the residue treated with a solution of an alkaline earth metal pref. 1-5% magnesium chloride soln. The resultant catalyst is dried in a stream of hydrogen pref. for from 4 to 6 hours at 180 to 200 degrees C. The highly active metal catalyst thus produced has a long life and is esp. useful for the conversion of acetone to isopropylamine.
