Fluoride-catalysed reduction of glucose using silicon powder as reducing agent

Abstract

As a means of simultaneously utilizing biomass and waste silicon from used solar panels, this work assessed the reduction of glucose to sorbitol using silicon powder as a reducing agent. Tetrabutylammonium fluoride was found to catalyse this process in conjunction with water as a proton donor. The addition of an acid also suppressed undesired base-catalysed side reactions, resulting in an improved sorbitol yield.