Cu/SiO2 catalysts prepared by the ammonia evaporation method were applied to hydrogenation of diethyl malonate to 1,3‐propanediol. The calcination temperature played an important role in the structural evolution and catalytic performance of the Cu/SiO2 catalysts, which were systematically characterized by N2 adsorption‐desorption, inductively coupled plasma‐atomic emission spectros‐copy, N2O chemisorption, X‐ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, H2 tempera‐ture‐programmed reduction, transmission electron microscopy, and X‐ray photoelectron spectros‐copy. When the Cu/SiO2 catalyst was calcined at 723 K, 90.7%conversion of diethyl malonate and 32.3%selectivity of 1,3‐propanediol were achieved. Compared with Cu/SiO2 catalysts calcined at other temperatures, the enhanced catalytic performance of the Cu/SiO2 catalyst calcined at 723 K can be attributed to better dispersion of copper species, larger cupreous surface area and greater amount of copper phyllosilicate, which results in a higher ratio of Cu＋/Cu0. The synergetic effect of Cu0 and Cu＋is suggested to be responsible for the optimum activity.
