A ruthenium nanocatalyst for the atmospheric hydrogenation of 1,5-cyclooctadiene

A ruthenium nanocatalyst is utilized for the first time for the highly efficient and selective hydrogenation of 1,5-cyclooctadiene under atmospheric hydrogen pressure. Under the optimized reaction conditions, the conversion of 1,5-cyclooctadiene and the selectivity for cyclooctene are >99% and 95%, respectively. The turnover frequency is 451 h−1, which is higher than that ever reported for Ru complex catalysts.