A new reality of the 21st century is the transition to a new type of economy and energy concepts characterized by the replacement of existing petrochemical routes to a bio-based circular economy. The needs for new strategies in obtaining basic products from bio-based resources with minimum CO2 traces has become mandatory. In this review, recent trends in the conversion of biomass-derived molecules, such as simple monomeric sugars and cellulose, to industrially important C5 and C6 sugar alcohols on heterogeneous catalysts based on non-noble metals are discussed focusing on the influence of catalyst structures and reaction conditions used on the substrate conversion and product selectivity. The challenges and prominent ideas are suggested for the further development of catalytic hydrogenation of naturally abundant carbohydrates to value-added chemicals on non-noble metal catalysts.
Keywords: catalysts; cellulose; copper; glucose; hydrogenation; hydrolytic hydrogenation; mannitol; nickel; non-noble metals; sorbitol; sugar alcohol; xylitol.