The liquid-phase hydrogenation of maleic anhydride is a promising alternative to already established processes (e.g. Reppe process) for the production of 1,4-butanediol. The attractivity of the maleic anhydride hydrogenation results from its efficiency and flexibility since gamma-butyrolactone, 1,4-butanediol and tetrahydrofuran can be obtained in a single-stage process. The fact that the partial oxidation of low value n-butane replaced benzene as a feedstock for maleic anhydride production over the last decades is another major advantage of the maleic anhydride route, The liquid-phase hydrogenation of maleic anhydride proceeds via succinic anhydride to gamma-butyrolactone and 1.4-butanediol in consecutive hydrogenation steps. However, the formation of 1,4-butanediol takes place exclusively on CuZnO-catalysts having a suitable composition, whereas no 1,4-butanediol is formed on zinc-free copper catalysts. An excessively high surface coverage of the copper sites with succinic anhydride inhibits the adsorption and thus hydrogenation of gamma-butyrolactone to 1,4-butanediol on zinc-free copper catalysts. An experimentally observed reversible carbon balance deficit in the hydrogenation of succinic anhydride on CuZnO-catalysts led to the assumption, that the catalytically inactive zinc oxide provides additional sorption sites for succinic anhydride whereby the surface coverage of copper is reduced. Furthermore, succinic anhydride is a highly undesirable intermediate since it reacts with LA-butanediol to form various oligo- and polyesters. Thus, the occurrence of succinic anhydride in the reactor has to be suppressed. According to the mechanistical approach., the copper-to-zinc ratio of CuZnO-catalysts is expected to have an elementary influence on the hydrogenation of succinic anhydride. Therefore, a set of binary CuZnO-catalysts with copper-to-zinc ratios from 0.1 to 9.0 was prepared and applied in kinetic measurements performed in a stir-red three-phase slurry reactor. A model discrimination led to a detailed kinetic model for the hydrogenation of succinic anhydride on CuZnO-catalysts, considering the experimentally observed reversible carbon balance deficit. The rate constants of the kinetic model were determined significantly for all copper-to-zinc ratios by performing a numerical parameter estimation. Thus. a kinetic model performing a good agreement between experimental and calculated results was achieved. Moreover, the experimentally observed carbon balance deficit could be predicted by the derived kinetic model.