TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Method: The catalyst is reduced by heating the catalyst in a reducing furnace under a reducing gas.Preferred Component: The inorganic support is alpha-alumina, zinc oxide, nickel spinel and/or other low surface area catalyst support materials, with a surface area less than 100 m2/g. The reducing gas is hydrogen and/or carbon monoxide.Preferred Composition: at least 90% of the palladium metal source is concentrated within 250 microns of a surface of the catalyst. The palladium metal comprises 0.005-0.05, preferably 0.01-0.03 wt.% catalyst. The thallium metal comprises 0.001-0.01 wt.% catalyst. The ratio of the palladium metal to the thallium metal is 1:1 to 100:1, preferably 10:1 to 20:1.Preferred Property: The catalyst is formed in the shape of a sphere, trihole trilobal, monolith, pellet, ring or tablet. The support material has a Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area of 1-100 m2/g. The support material has a pore volume of 0.2-0.7 cc/g.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Composition: The acetylene contained in the feed stream is reduced to less than 1 ppm. EXAMPLE - A catalyst was prepared by dipping 100 g low surface area alumina spheres with a BET surface area of 50 m2/g in a palladium chloride solution to yield a palladium loading of 0.03 wt.%, including the palladium, with a palladium depth of penetration that was controlled to at least 90% of the palladium was within 250 microns of the surface of the spheres. After palladium impregnation, the intermediate catalyst was calcined at 454 degrees C for 3 hours. The palladium-containing intermediate was then impregnated with thallium in the form of HCO2Tl to yield a thallium loading of 0.03 wt.%, including the thallium. The weight ratio between the palladium metal and the thallium metal on a by weight basis is 1:1. The catalyst containing the palladium and thallium was calcined a second time at 454 degrees C for 3 hours. The catalyst was then loaded into a reduction bed, and purged with nitrogen while the bed was heated to 94 degrees C. Once this temperature was reached, the nitrogen purge gas was discontinued and hydrogen gas was introduced as a reducing gas. The bed was maintained at 94 degrees C for at least 60 minutes. Upon completion of the reduction cycle, nitrogen gas was reintroduced into the bed and the bed was cooled to room temperature. The prepared catalyst demonstrated a broader temperature range over which the catalysts were active for hydrogenation than the prior art catalysts.