A series of ultrafine amorphous NiWB alloys were prepared by chemical reduction in aqueous solution with various concentration of Na~2WO~4. It is found that their catalytic activities are strikingly higher than that of Raney Ni catalyst in liquid phase glucose hydrogenation to sorbitol. XPS analysis revealed that tungsten can tailor the electron donation ability of elemental boron, which affects carbonyl group activation for glucose by boron as well as the dissociative adsorption of hydrogen on nickel. Fundamental kinetic study on the optimal NiWB-3 alloy showed that hydrogenation is first order to hydrogen and zero order to glucose. The activation energy in the temperature range of 373～403K is estimated to be 54.7kJ·mol^-^1.

Key words: NICKEL ALLOYS, TUNGSTEN ALLOYS, BORON ALLOY, GLUCOSE, HYDROGENATION, SORBITOL