Selective hydrogenation of citral to 3,7-dimethyloctanal over activated carbon supported nano-palladium under atmospheric pressure

•Selective hydrogenation of citral into 3,7-dimethyloctanal was developed.•1 wt.% Pd/C catalyst showed the highest catalytic activity and selectivity.•Citral conversion of 100% and 3,7-dimethyloctanal selectivity of 96% were obtained.

Hydrogenation of citral was studied over activated carbon supported Pd nanoparticles (Pd/C catalyst) under atmospheric pressure. Pd/C catalysts were prepared using glucose as a stabilizer and characterized by several techniques such as ultraviolet–visible absorption spectroscopy (UV–Vis), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). 1 wt.% Pd/C catalyst showed high catalytic activity for the hydrogenation of citral to 3,7-dimethyloctanal with high selectivity. A study on the optimization of the reaction conditions such as the reaction temperature and reaction solvent has been performed. Under optimal experimental conditions, citral conversion of 100% and 3,7-dimethyloctanal selectivity of 96% were obtained after 4 h at 303 K under atmospheric H2 pressure.