A series of amorphous Ni-Sn-B/SiO₂ catalysts with different tin contents were prepared by salt impregnation and KBH 4 reduction.The as-prepared catalysts exhibited excellent activity and selectivity in liquid phase hydrogenation of acetophenone (AP) to 1-phenyl ethanol (PE).A PE yield as high as 97.5% was achieved over the 10% Sn-NiB/SiO₂ catalyst, which is much higher than that over the amorphous Ni-B/SiO₂ or industrial Raney Ni catalyst.According to the characterizations including ICP, nitrogen physisorption, XRD, SEM, DSC and XPS, the superior catalytic behavior of the amorphous Ni-Sn-B/SiO₂ catalysts is attributed to the unique electronic structure of the amorphous alloy, the enhanced dispersion of the active components, as well as the activation of the carbonyl group by surface tin oxide.

Key words: Ni-Sn-B/SiO₂, amorphous alloy, acetophenone, 1-phenyl ethanol, selective hydrogenation