been studied by dehydrogenation using a range of heterogeneous catalysts under solvent-free conditions at high temperatures (160–180 °C). Dehydrogenation using activated Ru/C under vacuum provided α-hydroxyketone with 93% conversion and 82% GC yield. The optimized conditions were applied to a range of oleochemical diols, including a vegetable oil derivative, to obtain the corresponding α-hydroxyketones