“…Only four products were detected with all studied sulfide catalysts at low to moderate conversions of PHE (1–25 %), that is, 9,10‐dihydrophenanthrene (DiHPHE), 1,2,3,4‐tetrahydrophenanthrene (TetHPHE), 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8‐octahydrophenanthrene (symOHPHE), and 1,2,3,4,4a,9,10,10a‐octahydrophenanthrene (asymOHPHE). The latter two are nearly absent on WS 2 /γ‐Al 2 O 3 (Figure S1) and MoS 2 /γ‐Al 2 O 3 . The reaction network is composed of two parallel routes, that is, initial hydrogenation at the middle ring (PHE→DiHPHE→asymOHPHE) and initial hydrogenation at a lateral ring (PHE→TetHPHE→symOHPHE).…”