Hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde over Ru/C catalysts: effect of Ru particle size

Hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde has been carried out over Ru catalysts supported on activated carbon at 333 K and atmospheric pressure using ethanol as solvent. The activity and selectivity of Ru/C catalysts have been investigated in order to elucidate the effect of metal particle size on the hydrogenation of unsaturated aldehydes. The specific activity expressed per Ru surface atom remains constant with metal dispersion, indicating that the rate-determining step of the reaction is structure-insensitive. Selectivity to cinnamyl alcohol increases with Ru particle size, reaching a value of about 60% on the less dispersed samples.