Preparation and use of a heterogeneous catalyst for the hydrogenation of a double bond of an alpha-beta-unsaturated carbonyl compound

Process for hydrogenating the C═C double bond in α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds of general formula (I) according to the following reaction scheme:

• in which
• A is hydrogen, linear or branched alkyl containing from 1 to 8 carbon atoms, cycloalkyl containing from 5 to 10 carbon atoms, COOR or CONRR′ in which R and R′, which may be identical or different, are hydrogen, linear or branched alkyl containing from 1 to 8 carbon atoms or cycloalkyl containing from 5 to 10 carbon atoms, or A has the meanings given below for Ar
• n is 0, 1 or 2;
• Ar is phenyl, naphthyl or a 5- to 7-membered heteroaryl containing 1 or 2 hetero atoms chosen from O, N and S, in which the said phenyl, naphthyl and heteroaryl may be substituted with one or more C1-C2 alkyl groups or one or more OH, OR, halogen, COOR or CONRR′ groups, in which R and R′, which may be identical or different, are hydrogen, benzyl, linear or branched alkyl containing from 1 to 8 carbon atoms or cycloalkyl containing from 5 to 10 carbon atoms, characterized in that
• the said hydrogenation is carried out in the presence of an Rh-based catalytic system heterogenized on an organic or mineral support, obtained by (i) reducing a rhodium derivative with a valency state>0 in an ether or aromatic solvent and in the presence of a compound chosen from the group consisting of lipophilic tertiary amines, lipophilic tertiary amides and lipophilic quaternary ammonium salts, and (ii) adsorbing the mixture thus obtained onto a suitable organic or mineral support.