Nowadays, the catalytic conversion of lignocellulosic biomass is the topic of many investigations.Interesting compounds that can be produced from the carbohydrate part of lignocellulose are sugar alcohols. Hence, these products production is of prime interest due to their wide use in chemical 2 industries. They can be synthesized by the hydrogenation of sugar monomers in the presence of heterogeneous catalysts that are not always stable in water. Herein, we show that a commercial Ru/Al2O3 catalyst can be used to selectively convert first glucose to sorbitol with a yield around 97 % under optimized conditions. The reaction pathway was determined by the analysis of intermediate compounds. This catalyst was stable up to 10 reaction cycles due to the nature of the support and the Ru particle sizes. I was active in the hydrogenation of sugars such as glucose, fructose, mannose, galactose and xylose to sugar alcohols.

The catalytic conversion of (ligno)cellulose is currently subject of intense research. Isosorbide is one of the interesting products that can be produced from (ligno)cellulose as it can be used for the synthesis of a wide range of pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and polymers. Isosorbide is obtained after the hydrolysis of cellulose to glucose, followed by the hydrogenation of glucose to sorbitol that is then dehydrated to isosorbide. The one-pot process requires an acid and a hydrogenation catalyst. Several parameters are of importance during the direct conversion of (ligno)cellulose such as the acidity, the crystallinity and the particle size of cellulose as well as the nature of the feedstocks. This review highlights all these parameters and all the strategies employed to produce isosorbide from (ligno)cellulose in a one-pot process.

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