Catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) is regarded as a promising technology for upgrading biomass to fuels and valuable chemicals in the presence of heterogeneous catalysts. In this work, three Ni 2 P-based catalysts, such as Ni 2 P@YSS with a yolk−shell structure, Ni 2 P@SiO 2 with a core−shell structure, and Ni 2 P/SiO 2 with a simple surface-loading structure, were prepared using different synthesis strategies, and were used in the CTH of vanillin in an ethanol environment. The Ni 2 P@YSS catalyst exhibited the highest conversion (85.6%) and a selectivity of 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol of 76.2% at 180 °C for 5 h among a series of Ni 2 P-based catalysts, which are closely related to the higher specific surface area (462 m 2 g −1 ), acidic site density (2.31 mmol g −1 ), and stronger metal−support interactions of the Ni 2 P@YSS catalyst. Besides, transition metals (Zr and La) were introduced to the Ni 2 P@YSS catalyst to increase the oxygen vacancy and improve the H dissociation ability, thereby enhancing the catalytic performance of the Ni 2 P-based catalysts.