New process for hydrogenating ketones

In a process for converting a ketone of the formula R -- CO -- R' where R and R' are monovalent hydrocarbon radicals or, when taken together, are a divalent hydrocarbon radical, to form the corresponding secondary alcohol, said process comprising reacting said ketone in the liquid phase with free hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst obtained by reacting a molar proportion of at least one compound (A) of a metal from one of the groups Ib, IIb, IVa, Va, VIa, VIIa or VII of the periodic classification, with a 0.1-20 molar proportion of a metal reducing compound (B) selected from the group consisting of

• a. a compound of the formula R-Li where R is a monovalent hydrocarbon radical,
• b. a compound of the formula AlHn X .sub.3.sub.-n where n is zero provided all X are R groups, or 1, 2 or 3, X is R, OR, NR.sub.2, NHR or SR or, provided n is 1, two R groups are linked to form an -A-Z-B- group where A and B are alkylene groups and Z is an oxygen or sulfur atom, an alkylene group, a NH group or N-hydrocarbyl group, and R is a monovalent hydrocarbon radical, and
• c. a compound of the formula M (AlHm X' .sub.4.sub.-m).sub.p where m is an integer from 1 to 4, M is a mono- or di-valent metal selected from the metals of groups Ia and IIa, p is the valence of this metal and X' is defined as X,
• the improvement wherein said reacting of said ketone with hydrogen in the presence of said catalyst is conducted in the additional presence of, as part of the catalyst system, 0.1-10 molar proportion of at least one metal alcoholate of the formula ##EQU2## where M is an alkali metal and R.sub.1, R.sub.2 and R.sub.3 are hydrogen atoms or monovalent hydrocarbon radicals or, when taken by pairs, form a hydrocarbon ring with the carbon atom linked to the --OM group, the hydrocarbon portion of said metal alcoholate being aromatic of not more than 13 carbon atoms, or alkyl or cycloalkyl of not more than 12 carbon atoms with the provision that said cycloalkyl contains at least 5 carbon atoms.