Vapor-phase self-aldol condensation of butanal was performed over various solid catalysts. Among the tested catalysts, SiO2-Al2O3, Nb2O5 and TiO2 showed relatively high catalytic activity for the formation of aldol condensation product, 2-ethyl-2-hexenal, whereas all the catalysts deactivated rapidly. In order to stabilize the catalytic activity, metal-modified catalysts were investigated in hydrogen flow, and it was found that Ag-modified TiO2 showed the best catalytic performance. Characterizations such as XRD, TPD, TPR, TG-DTA, and DRIFT were performed for investigating the effect of the additive Ag and analyzing the coke component. The loaded Ag metal inhibited the formation of carbon accumulated on catalyst surface, and H-2 carrier gas was indispensable in the inhibition. Ag would work as a remover of the products on the catalyst surface together with H-2 to prevent dehydrogenation followed by coke formation. Self-aldol condensation of butanal was stabilized over Ag-modified TiO2 at Ag2O loadings higher than 3 wt.% at 220 degrees C in H-2 flow. TiO2 with Ag2O of 5 wt.% showed the best catalytic performance and gave a 72.2% selectivity to 2-ethyl-2-hexenal at 72.1% conversion in H-2 flow at 220 degrees C. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.