L-Valine was anchored to 6% and 8% cross-linked poly(styrene-divinyl benzene) resin and its complex with palladium chloride was prepared. The newly synthesized catalysts were characterized by various techniques such as elemental analysis, FT-IR, DRS, SEM and TGA. Physico-chemical properties like surface area, swelling behavior in different solvents, bulk density, etc. have been determined. The polymer supported Pd complexes behave as versatile and recyclable catalysts for the hydrogenation of 1-octene, cyclohexene, acetophenone and nitrobenzene. Kinetics of hydrogenation of I-octene has been investigated in detail. The influence of different reaction parameters on conversion and selectivity to products are reported. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.