In 1936 he married chemical engineer Jørgine Stene (1905–1997) with whom he had worked in the lab of nutritional chemist Sigval Schmidt-Nielsen(sv) (1877–1956).
He published about one hundred scientific papers with a primary focus on carbohydrates, carotenoids and natural acetylene compounds.
In 1938, the couple worked with chemist Richard Kuhn (1900–1967) in Heidelberg on the study of astaxanthin which resulted in a joint publication in Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft in 1939.
He was an honorary member of Norsk Kjemisk Selskab, and received the Nansen medal for Outstanding Research.
A sculpture of Sørensen by Johannes Block Hellum is located at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.