Ruthenium sulfide (either supported or unsupported) has received considerable attention since this chalcogenide displayed prominent hydrodesulfurization, hydrogenation and hydrodenitrogenation activities. Several interesting properties have been observed when RuS2 was deposited on a high surface area support of industrial relevance like alumina. This review will focus attention on studies dealing with RuS2 supported on this carrier over the last two decades. The present paper summarizes then the progress which has been made in the hydrotreatment field, focusing on synthesis methods and activation procedures and their correlation with the catalytic properties for RuS2 supported on Al2O3. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.