Catalytic reduction of benzaldehyde to toluene over Ni/γ-Al2O3 in the presence of aniline and H2

An efficient method for the reduction of benzaldehyde to toluene over Ni30/γ-Al2O3 in the presence of aniline and H2 was established for the first time in this work. Toluene was obtained in the yield of 96.5% and no methyl cyclohexane was detected. The catalyst was characterized by XRD. Ni0 was the active sites for the hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis. Aniline played an important role during the reduction process.

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► Hydrogenolysis of C–N bonds were instead of the direct reduction of C–O bonds.
► Application of aniline in the reduction of benzaldehyde to toluene was studied.
► The mechanism of the reduction process was proposed.
► Ni30/γ-Al2O3 showed excellent activity for this transformation.