Through a combination of consecutive acid catalyzed dehydration and metal catalyzed hydrogenation steps the system consisting of HOTf and [cis-Ru(6,6'-Cl-2-bipy)(2) (OH2)(2)](CF3SO3)(2) catalyzes a direct conversion of terminal diols to primary alcohols in a single reactor. Typical reaction conditions are 500 mmol/L diol, 0.5 mol% ruthenium and 6 mol% acid catalyst at 125degreesC and 700 psi H-2(g) for 48 h resulting in primary alcohol yields of up to 63%. At higher acid concentrations total hydrogenation becomes the dominant reaction yielding corresponding alkane in up to 97% yield. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.