Catalytic Hydrogenation of Methyl Propionate to Propanol Alcohol over Ru/ZrO_2·xH_2O Catalyst

The Ru/ZrO2·xH2O catalyst prepared by co-precipitation method was able to effectively catalytic hydrogenation of methyl propionate to propanol alcohol with high yields.The effect of reaction time,temperature,hydrogen pressure,stirring rate,solvent were studied,the results showed that the reaction activity and selectivity are poor when alcohols were used as solvent,the maximum yield of propanol alcohol was only 27.5%,while matcing water as solvent,the conversion of methyl propionate increased to 94.8% and propanol selectivity reached 91.7%.The catalyst could be reused six times without significant decline in activity and selectivity,which indicates a good prospect for industrial application.