Zeolites for Fine Chemical Production State of Art and Perspectives

The paper analyses the role of catalysis and that of renewable resources in the frame of a sustainable development. The possible uses of natural feedstocks for chemical production and the application of catalytic methods to their transformations are reviewed, with emphasis on carbohydrates and vegetable oils and on zeolite catalysts, respectively. The problems arising from the embedment of active sites on the catalyst surface are discussed, with the aid of specific examples taken from oxidation and acid catalysed reactions.