Liquid-phase hydrogenation of toluene in isooctane, n-heptane, and cyclohexane was studied on a commercial Ni/Al2O3 catalyst at 100-200 degreesC and 20-40 bar. None of the solvents was adsorbed on the catalyst. The variation in the hydrogenation rates is explained by the variation in the hydrogen solubility: the reaction rates in isooctane and n-heptane were similar, whereas the reaction rate in cyclohexane was lower, especially at higher temperatures. The reaction order for toluene was close to 0, while the reaction order with respect to hydrogen increased from near 0 to 1 with increasing temperature. A kinetic model based on the multiplet; theory describes well the reaction orders and gives a good fit with physically reasonable parameters.