Selective Production\nof Sorbitol from Glucose over\nHumic Acid-Derived Carbon-Supported Nickel Phosphide Catalysts

Sorbitol,\nas a potential multipurpose biomass platform\ncompound,\nnot only is widely used in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics\nindustries but also can be used to produce isosorbitol, diols, and\nvarious polymer monomers. In this study, humic acid-derived carbon-supported\nnickel phosphide catalysts were synthesized by an impregnation method\nand applied to the catalytic hydrogenation of glucose to sorbitol.\nAfter calcination at 600 °C, the effective components of the\ncatalyst exhibit tetragonal crystalline nickel phosphide (N<sub>12</sub>P<sub>5</sub>), which endowed the as-synthesized material (NiP<sub>0.5</sub>/HA) high catalytic activity for the production of sorbitol\nfrom glucose, with a sorbitol yield of 97.3% obtained at 120 °C\nfor 5 h under 3 MPa of H<sub>2</sub>. The catalyst also showed an\nexcellent catalytic performance with a sorbitol yield of 92.6% for\nhigh-concentration glucose solutions of no less than 50 wt %. This\nprocess realized selective hydrogenation of glucose to sorbitol under\nmild conditions, which should have potential practical application\nin sorbitol production.