Hydrogenation of coumarin to octahydrocoumarin over a Ru/C catalyst

Abstract The production of octahydrocoumarin, which can serve as a replacement for toxic coumarin, was investigated using 5% Ru on active carbon (Ru/C) as the catalyst for the hydrogenation of coumarin. The hydrogenation was studied by optimizing the reaction conditions (pressure, solvent and coumarin concentration). The activity and selectivity of the Ru/C catalyst were compared for different solvents. The mechanism of coumarin hydrogenation was deduced. The formation of side products was explained. The optimal hydrogenation reaction conditions were: 130 °C, 10 MPa, 60 wt% coumarin in methanol, and 0.5 wt% (based on coumarin) of Ru/C catalyst. At the complete conversion of coumarin, the selectivity to the desired product was 90%.