Dehydrogenation method and nonacidic multimetallic catalytic composite for use therein

A method for dehydrogenating a dehydrogenatable hydrocarbon which comprises contacting the hydrocarbon at dehydrogenation conditions with a nonacidic catalytic composite comprising a porous carrier material containing, on an elemental basis, about 0.01 to about 2 wt. % platinum group metal, about 0.05 to about 5 wt. % cobalt, about 0.1 to about 5 wt. % alkali metal or alkaline earth metal, and about 0.1 to about 10 wt. % uranium;

• wherein the platinum group, catalytically available cobalt, uranium and alkali or alkaline earth components are uniformly dispersed throughout the porous carrier material;
• wherein substantially all of the platinum group component is present in the elemental metallic state;
• wherein substantially all of the catalytically available cobalt component is present in the elemental metallic state or in a state which is reducible to the elemental metallic state under dehydrogenation conditions or in a mixture of these states;
• and wherein substantially all of the uranium and alkali or alkaline earth components are present in an oxidation state above that of the corresponding elemental metal.