The performance of ruthenium-tin catalysts for the liquid phase selective hydrogenation of oleic acid to unsaturated alcohols has been investigated. Titania-supported ruthenium and ruthenium-tin catalysts prepared by conventional impregnation as well as alumina-supported sol-gel ruthenium and ruthenium-tin catalysts have been used. The hydrogenation over the monometallic. ruthenium catalysts leads primarily to the saturated stearic acid, which is then consecutively hydrogenated to the saturated stearyl alcohol. The titania-supported monometallic ruthenium catalyst shows a greater activity than the alumina-supported sol-g-el one for the hydrogenation of oleic acid to the saturated stearyl alcohol. The hydrogenation over the bimetallic ruthenium-tin catalysts is characterized by the near total suppression of the hydrogenation of the olefine bond in favor of the activation of the hydrogenation of the carboxylic bond, thus leading to the selective formation of unsaturated alcohols. Besides, these catalysts are active for the cis-trans isomerization reaction of the oleic acid to elaidic acid, in competition with the hydrogenation of the carboxylic group. The impregnated titania-supported ruthenium-tin catalyst shows a better performance than the alumina-supported sol-gel ruthenium-tin catalyst for the selective hydrogenation of oleic acid to unsaturated alcohols. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.21741671253262