1. Importance of the industrial sector

Catalytic oxidation plays a central role in the chemical industry, because during the synthesis of many everyday commodities, at least one step in their production cycle is an oxidation step. More than half of the products obtained by catalytic processes, including the syntheses of NO, SO ₃ and sulfur (by oxidation of NH ₃ , SO ₂ and H ₂ S, respectively), and virtually all the monomers used in the production of fibers and plastics are produced in this way. Heterogeneous and homogeneous catalytic oxidation reactions are used in the petrochemical industry, base chemicals, fine chemicals and pharmaceutical production, and the energy sector. Recently, biomass-derived compounds have been the subject of intensive...