C. Montassier – författare

The recession in the traditional heavy industries along with the development of advanced technologies in all the industrial countries has meant that the impact of heterogeneous catalysis in the synthesis of fine chemicals is becoming increasingly noticeable. The second International Symposium on Heterogeneous Catalysis and Fine Chemicals is to be seen in this perspective. Organised by the Laboratory of Catalysis in Organic Chemistry of the University of Poitiers within the framework of the International Symposia of the `Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique'' (CNRS), the symposium provided an opportunity for contact between academic researchers and manufacturers, users (or potential users) of solid catalysts for fine chemical synthesis. The book gives an overall view of the problems encountered by academic and industrial researchers. A large variety of reactions are described, the emphasis being on selectivity: chemo-, regio-, stereoselectivity (even enantioselectivity) and on the change of these selectivities as a function of the characteristics of the surface sites (nature, distribution, etc.).The three themes of the symposium, hydrogenation, oxidation and acid-base catalysis were introduced in four plenary lectures and two invited communications, maintaining a balance between the industrial and the academic points of view. Some 60 research papers selected by the Scientific Committee were presented. All are reproduced in full in this proceedings volume.

Heterogeneous catalysis plays a major role in the organic synthesis of specialty and fine chemicals. However, as the interaction between surface sites and functional groups is complex, more investigations are necessary into the effects of catalysts on the reaction mechanisms. The Third International Symposium on Heterogeneous Catalysis and Fine Chemicals provided an opportunity for discussions on the basic and practical aspects of this subject between researchers, manufacturers and users of solid catalysts for synthesis of fine chemicals.The present volume comprises the invited plenary lectures and research papers classified under the three main headings, hydrogenation, oxidation and acid-catalysis. All papers were refereed. A large variety of reactions are described, the emphasis being on selectivity, taking into account all aspects: chemo-, regio-, and stereoselectivity (including enantioselectivity) and on the change of these selectivities as a function of the characteristics of the catalysts and operating conditions.