AbstractPalladium‐copper catalysts supported upon silica, containing 2–6% (w/w) total metal, have been prepared by (i) precipitation and (ii) impregnation methods. The catalysts were employed for the hydrogenation of soyabean oil at 1 bar H2pressure and at 160°C in a stirred batch reactor.Temperature‐programmed reduction studies provided evidence of alloying of palladium and copper and metal surface area measurements exhibited evidence of a slight maximum in the metal surface area at around 90 at. % Pd content. In addition, it was observed that the presence of copper seemed to prevent sintering of palladium, giving a more stable or even enhancing metal surface area compared with palladium alone.Activity measurements showed that there was evidence of a maximum at around 80–90 at. % Pd content. However, selectivity measurements showed that the latter parameter was dominated by the presence of palladium and except at very high copper contents the superior selectivity of the latter for linolenate chain hydrogenation was hardly evident. It is thought that the palladium may cause the copper to be present largely as Cu°, which is not as effective as Cu1in catalysing selective hydrogenation of multiply unsaturate