TRENDS IN THE CHEMICAL-INDUSTRY

The new driving forces for process innovation in the near future are summarized. These trends were shown in the catalytically important impacts on recent process developments: zero-waste, oxidation reactions, oxidation with hydrogen peroxide, the use of renewable raw materials and in fine-chemical synthesis, especially asymmetric synthesis. In future, zero-waste and new raw materials will dominate industrial research. To improve the catalytic reactions, a better understanding of the reaction through surface science is necessary to tailor the catalysts. New synthetic materials with specific properties as catalyst and/or support may help to meet future demand.