Selective hydrogenation of citral by noble metals supported on carbon xerogels: Catalytic performance and stability

[Display omitted] •Pt, Ru and Ir-catalysts were developed by impregnation of a microporous carbon xerogels.•Sintering is favoured after H2 pre-treatments regarding He pre-treatments, mainly for Ru-catalysts.•Ir-catalysts present a low activity but a high selectivity to unsaturated alcohols.•Pt-catalysts present the best combination of activity and selectivity, but a deeper deactivation by CO -poisoning. A series of monometallic Pt, Ir and Ru-catalysts deposited on carbon xerogel microspheres was prepared, exhaustively characterized and used in the selective hydrogenation of citral. A similar metal particle size is obtained in all cases after He-pretreatment, allowing the comparison between metals; the catalytic activity increases in the sense Ir