Use of organic dopants to enhance acetylene hydrogenation catalysts

A composition comprising a supported hydrogenation catalyst comprising palladium and a support, wherein the supported hydrogenation catalyst is capable of selectively hydrogenating highly unsaturated hydrocarbons to unsaturated hydrocarbons; and a dopant comprising a fluorene structure. A method of making a selective hydrogenation catalyst including contacting a support with a palladium-containing compound to form a supported-palladium composition; contacting the supported-palladium composition with a dopant comprising a fluorene structure group to form a selective hydrogenation catalyst precursor; and reducing the selective hydrogenation catalyst precursor to form the selective hydrogenation catalyst. A method of selectively hydrogenating highly unsaturated hydrocarbons to an unsaturated hydrocarbon enriched composition by contacting a supported catalyst comprising palladium and a dopant comprising a fluorene structure with a feed comprising highly unsaturated hydrocarbon under conditions suitable for hydrogenating at least a portion of the highly unsaturated hydrocarbon feed to form the unsaturated hydrocarbon enriched composition.