Xylitol: A review on the progress and challenges of its production by chemical route

Abstract Xylitol is one of the Top Value-Added chemicals from biomass released by DOE, with no petrochemical alternative. Industrially, this polyol is obtained by catalytic hydrogenation of xylose, a major component of hemicellulose. From xylitol it is possible to obtain various products, such as polyethylene glycol and ethylene glycol, and thus substitute fossil-based raw material. To reduce production costs and make the process environmentally friendly, it is necessary to reduce the stages of chemical conversion of lignocelluloses to xylitol. The present paper discusses the research advances focused on integrating several types of catalytic processes in a single container. The mechanism of catalytic hydrogenation of xylose to xylitol is detailed. The domain of the different parameters of the reaction will allow to increase the efficiency of the transformation of the biomass.