| abstract |
A catalyst comprises copper or a compound thereof, zinc or a compound thereof and a material containing silica and alumina. The zinc maybe present as zinc oxide. The catalyst may contain 10-70% by weight of zinc, calculated as zinc metal. It may also contain 10-70% by weight of copper, calculated as copper metal and 1-40% by weight of the material containing silica and alumina. The silica and alumina containing material may contain 1-40% of silica by weight and 60-99% of alumina by weight. Optionally the silica and alumina material may not be a zeolite, and can be selected from e.g. aluminosilicates and clays, such as kaolin, montmorillonite, attapulgite. A process for producing an alcohol comprising the steps of contacting an ester of a carboxylic acid with hydrogen in the presence of the catalyst is also disclosed. The process may be a continuous process wherein a liquid feedstock containing the ester is caused to flow through a bed of catalyst particles and hydrogen is either present as a gas or dissolved in said liquid phase. |