Vanadium nanoparticles (similar to 7 nm) stabilized on activated carbon were synthesized by the reduction of VCl3 center dot 3THF with K[BEt3H]. This material was characterized by inductive coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses. The catalytic performance of the carbon-supported vanadium was studied using thiophene hydrodesulfurization (HDS) as model reaction at 300 degrees C and P = 1 atm. The catalytic activity of the vanadium carbide phase on the activated carbon carrier was more significant than that of the reference catalysts, alumina supported NiMoS. The method proposed for the synthesis of such a catalyst led to an excellent performance of the HDS process. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.