US Patent 7618917 Ruthenium catalysts

Novel ruthenium catalysts can be obtained by:i) treating a support material based on amorphous silicon dioxide one or more times with a halogen-free aqueous solution of a low molecular weight ruthenium compound and subsequently drying the treated support material at below 200° C.,ii) reducing the solid obtained in i) by means of hydrogen at from 100 to 350° C.,where step ii) is carried out directly after step i). These catalysts can be used for the catalytic hydrogenation of monosaccharides and disaccharides to produce sugar alcohols, with the exception of sorbitol.