Patent ID: 7507862

Claim:
A process for hydrogenating an aromatic amine having at least one amino group bound to an aromatic nucleus, comprising: reacting the aromatic amine with hydrogen in the presence of at least one supported catalyst; wherein the catalyst comprises as active metal, ruthenium alone or together with at least one metal selected from the group consisting of the first, seventh or eighth subgroups of the periodic system in an amount of 0.01 to 20 wt % of active metal, based on the supported catalyst, and a support selected from the group consisting of Al 2 O 3 , TiO 2 , ZrO 2 , SiO 2 , MgO, ZnO, spinels, aluminium silicates and active carbons and mixtures thereof, wherein the support has a BET surface area ranging from 32 m 2 /g to 67 m 2 /g, and wherein at least 55% of the pore volume of the catalyst support are macropores having a pore diameter of greater than 50 nm and less than 45% are mesopores having a pore diameter of 2 to 50 nm.