Abstract Catalytic hydrogenation of diisononyl phthalate (DINP) to diisononyl 1,2-cyclohexanedicarboxylate (DINCH) over Co-modified Ru/γ-Al2O3 was studied. The catalysts were characterized by low-temperature nitrogen adsorption-desorption technique, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), H2 temperature-programmed reduction (H2-TPR), H2 temperature- programmed desorption (H2-TPD) and inductively coupled plasma (ICP). The results showed that the synergistic effect of Co and Ru increased the activity of Ru/γ-Al2O3 catalyst. The catalyst exhibited better performance in the case that the catalyst containing 1% Ru and 0.5 % Co. Under the conditions of reaction pressure 2 MPa, temperature 120 ℃, stirring speed 600 r/min and reaction time 5 h, the selectivity of DINCH and yield of DINCH reached 100% and 99.4%, respectively. Even after six cycles, the yield of DINCH maintained above 99%, which indicated that the catalyst showed good stability for the hydrogenation of DINP to DINCH.
