ABSTRACT
Hydrogenation of the carboxylic group at high pressure and in the presence of a copper catalyst was discovered almost simultaneously by various groups, published and patented in the early 1930's (3-5). Analogous to the known Ni catalysts for fat hardening, kieselguhr as a support for the copper catalyst was applied. In the following years the copper chromite catalysts gained importance in technical applications. Meanwhile the copper chromites represent versatile heterogeneous catalysts, active in many reactions besides hydrogenation, including dehydrogenation, methanol steam reforming, water gas shift reaction and oxidation reactions in environmental catalysis. However, in the last decade chromium containing catalysts have become increasingly a subject of discussion because of the toxic nature of the Cr6+ content in the catalyst precursor or in improperly re-oxidized catalysts after use.
