Hydrogenation of benzoic acid in the liquid phase over Pt/SnO₂ has afforded excellent selectivity to benzyl alcohol under mild reaction conditions (97% at 98% conversion of benzoic acid). DFT calculations have shown that the favoured mode of adsorption of benzoic acid switched from the aromatic ring to the acid carbonyl group with partial reduction of the SnO₂ support. The switch in adsorption mode corroborates the experimentally observed selectivity with acid carbonyl group adsorption and hydrogenation occurring over Pt/SnO₂. Reduction of Pt/SnO₂ was observed by in-situ XPS forming a degree of metallic tin and complete reduction of Pt which could lead to Pt-Sn alloy phases and/or migration of SnO_x onto Pt blocking sites for ring hydrogenation. No hydrogenation of benzene or the benzene ring of benzoic acid was observed over Pt/SnO₂ with oxidic tin species at the interface of Pt particles proposed to activate the acid carbonyl group for hydrogenation.

在温和的反应条件下，通过Pt / SnO ₂在液相中苯甲酸加氢可提供优异的对苯甲醇的选择性（苯甲酸转化率为98％时为97％）。DFT计算表明，随着SnO ₂载体的部分还原，有利的苯甲酸吸附模式从芳环转变为酸性羰基。吸附模式下的转换证实了实验观察到的选择性与Pt / SnO _2上发生的酸性羰基吸附和氢化反应有关。通过原位XPS形成一定程度的金属锡和完全还原Pt可以观察到Pt / SnO _2的还原，这可能导致Pt-Sn合金相和/或SnO _x迁移到Pt封闭位点进行环氢化。在Pt / SnO ₂上未观察到苯的氢化或苯甲酸的苯环的氢化，在Pt颗粒的界面上有氧化锡物种，该活化的羰基酸被激活以活化羰基酸。