Importance of the industrial sector
Selective redox catalysis

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, SO₃ and sulfur (by oxidation of NH₃ , SO₂ and H₂S, 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 work, for example the oxidative reforming of alcohols or polyols (glucose) into H₂/CO/CO₂ mixtures, which can then be converted in...