Patent ID: 7230141

Claim:
A process for preparing toluene derivatives of the formula I, where R1, R2 and R3 independently of one another are hydroxyl or C1–C6-alkoxy, by hydrogenating benzaldehydes and/or benzyl alcohols of the formula II, with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst, wherein the catalyst consists essentially of a catalytically active constituent and optionally a support material, and the catalytically active constituent consists essentially of: (a) at least one metal and/or at least one oxide, hydroxide or salt of a metal selected from the group consisting of cobalt, nickel and copper; (b) from 0 to 50% by weight of one or more metals and/or one or more oxides, hydroxides or salts of a metal selected from the group consisting of platinum, rhodium, iron, silver, molybdenum, tungsten, manganese, rhenium, zinc, cadmium, lead, aluminum, zirconium, tin, phosphorus, silicon, arsenic, antimony, bismuth, titanium and rare earth metals, and (c) from 0 to 5% by weight of an alkali metal oxide or alkaline earth metal oxide, alkali metal hydroxide or alkaline earth metal hydroxide, or alkali metal salt or alkaline earth metal salt, where the sum of the weight percentages of components (a) to (c) is 100% by weight wherein the catalyst is a heterogeneous catalyst.