Selective Production of Sorbitol from Glucose over Humic Acid-Derived Carbon-Supported Nickel Phosphide Catalysts

Sorbitol, as a potential multipurpose biomass platform compound, not only is widely used in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics industries but also can be used to produce isosorbitol, diols, and various polymer monomers. In this study, humic acid-derived carbon-supported nickel phosphide catalysts were synthesized by an impregnation method and applied to the catalytic hydrogenation of glucose to sorbitol. After calcination at 600 °C, the effective components of the catalyst exhibit tetragonal crystalline nickel phosphide (N12P5), which endowed the as-synthesized material (NiP0.5/HA) high catalytic activity for the production of sorbitol from glucose, with a sorbitol yield of 97.3% obtained at 120 °C for 5 h under 3 MPa of H2. The catalyst also showed an excellent catalytic performance with a sorbitol yield of 92.6% for high-concentration glucose solutions of no less than 50 wt %. This process realized selective hydrogenation of glucose to sorbitol under mild conditions, which should have potential practical application in sorbitol production.