Competitive hydrogenation of olefinic substrates on a Pt/SiO2 catalyst

The effect of structure of substrates and solvents on the process of competitive hydrogenation of binary mixtures of olefinic substrates in the liquid state on 5% Pt/SiO2 catalyst has been investigated. The hydrogenations were carried out at 20°C under atmospheric pressure of hydrogen in the absence of solvent, in methanol and in cyclohexane; one series was also performed in sec‐butanol and in tert‐butanol. Selectivity changed markedly owing to the different adsorptivity of the substrates. In more polar solvents hydrogenation of less polar substates was relatively preferred.