Hydrogenation of cyclic unsaturated compounds

In a process for hydrogenation, with elemental hydrogen gas in the presence of a hydrogenation catalyst, of a cyclic unsaturated compound having an hydroxyl group projecting from an asymmetric center of the ring and an olefinic carbon-to-carbon double bond which when saturated in the hydrogenation process creates an additional asymmetric center in the ring, the improvement for obtaining increased stereoselectivity by increasing the addition of said hydrogen to that side of the olefin bond on the same side of the compound molecule as said hydroxyl group, comprising: conducting said hydrogenation with a nickel hydrogenation catalyst that has a substantial fraction of its reactive surfaces inactivated.