Alcohols production by hydrogenation of carboxylic acids

A process for the production of either ethanol from acetic acid or propanol from propionic acid together with the coproduction of the corresponding ester in each case which process comprises contacting either acetic acid or propionic acid in the vapor phase with hydrogen at elevated temperature and pressure in the range from 1 to 150 bar in the presence of a catalyst essentially consisting of (i) a noble metal of Group VIII of the Periodic Table of Elements, and (ii) rhenium, and either (a) increasing the proportion of coproduced corresponding ester by operating at low conversions per pass or by introducing an acidic function component in to the catalyst, or (b) increasing the proportion of alcohol by cofeeding water or by operating at high conversions per pass.