Progress for catalytic selective hydrogenation of citral.

Citral was used widely since its hydrogenation products were applied in the area of perfume and medicine intermediate production extensively. In this paper, the development of the catalysts for catalytic hydrogenation of citral in the latest five years were summarized, especially in the preparation of catalysts and influences of carrier and active agent on the catalytic performance of citral selective hydrogenation. The selective hydrogenation of citral into various products including geraniol plus nerol, citronellal, dihydrocitronellal, citronellol and 3,7-dimethyloctanol were discussed, which will be useful for further study on selective hydrogenation of citral.