MnOx-promoted Ni-based catalyst supported by ZnO was developed to selectively hydrogenate glucose into polyols in water at 523 K with a yield of 64.9%.Using glucose,sorbitol,glycerol and LA as the rawmaterials,the roles of nickel,ZnO and MnOx were investigated.The results show that nickel provided a new pathway of glucose to sorbitol and played an important role in the hydrogenation of C3 intermediates to 1,2-propanediol (1,2-PDO).The high yield of 1,2-PDO was attributed to effective C-C bond cleavage performance of ZnO support promoted by MnOx.ZnO and MnOx contribute to the conversion of glycerol to lactic acid (LA) and LA to 1,2-PDO,respectively.A concise pathway for hydrogenation of glucose over Ni-based catalyst was proposed.