A method for the synthesis of bulk liquid-phase hydrogenation catalysts based on ammonia carbonate salts of transition metals (Ni, Cu, Co, Mo) is presented. It is shown that the thermal decomposition of these salts followed by reductive activation gives metal oxide systems with a developed specific surface area and pronounced mesoporous structures. The activity of the obtained catalysts in the reaction of D-glucose hydrogenation to D-sorbitol under mild conditions (30°C, 0.1 MPa H2) was studied. It was established that the activity of the metals increases in the series Cu → Co → Mo → Ni.
Smirnov et al. (Sun,) studied this question.