Palladium in Heterogeneous Oxidation Catalysis

Palladium is one of the precious group metals mainly used in automobile catalytic converters. Besides, it has an importance in various catalytic processes. Although it is well known for hydrogenation reactions, various oxidations can also be catalyzed by palladium. This chapter gives an overview on the most common application of palladium catalysts in heterogeneously catalyzed acetoxylation, i.e. the acetoxylation of ethylene to vinyl acetate. Derived from this knowledge, the authors summarize in detail recently accumulated research results in acetoxylation of toluene to benzyl acetate that can be easily converted to benzyl alcohol. The chapter includes a detailed description of catalyst syntheses, gas phase oxidation runs, comprehensive characterizations and a deep understanding in catalyst-feed interaction. This development can turn away the manufacture of important petrochemicals from chlorine chemistry to oxidations using molecular oxygen.