Gold nanoparticles have been supported on alumina by wet impregnation in the presence of sodium citrate and polyvinyl alcohol. The catalytic performance of these catalysts for the selective hydrogenation of 3,7dimethyl-2,6-octadienal (citral) in the liquid phase has been evaluated. The presence of polyvinyl alcohol significantly improved the selectivity to cis-3,7-dimethy1-2,6-octadien-1-ol (nerol). (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.