Stearic acid deoxygenation under inert conditions is a route to ‘green diesel’.
Benchmark Pd/C catalyst gives ∼70% yields but unmodified silica gives yields <25%.
Low performance of silica shown not to arise from Pd dispersion.
Silica modified with phenyl and amine groups gives high dispersion and yields >85%.
Organosilane modifications demonstrated to strongly impact supported metal catalysis.