Higher diols are important chemical intermediates. Especially, 1,5-pentanediol and 1,6-hexanediol are high value-added fine chemical products, which are widely used in plasticizers, advanced inks, cosmetics, medicine, light curing (UV) coatings etc. In this paper，the status of the research and development on the production of 1,5-pentanediols and 1,6-hexanediolwas described and discussed. Compared with petroleum-based approach, biomass-based approach exhibits the advantages of renewable and abundant raw materials, simplified process（2-3 steps）,highly selectivity (>90%) and environmental friendly. But the challenges lie in high catalyst cost (Pt, Rh, Re, Ir),low conversion and insufficient research on fracture mechanism of C—O bond. Therefore, Itis of great significance to develop non noble metal replacement noble metal catalysts and improve the utilization of noble metals, new efficient preparation routes and clearfracture mechanism ofC—O bond.