A wide range of chemical products (especially fine chemicals) are important for a healthy and enjoyable modern life; therefore efficient syntheses of these materials are essential. Traditional stoichiometric processes need to be replaced by modern catalytical methods in the change to sustainable chemistry and the production of lower amounts of waste. This book summarizes the wide variety of catalytic methods that have been developed and applied on an industrial scale in recent years to fulfill this goal. The synthesis of compound classes such as pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, flavoring, and fragrance compounds as well as food additives such as vitamins exemplify the use of these modern catalytic methods in the modern chemical industry.

Werner Bonrath studied Chemistry at the University of Münster (Germany) and obtained his Ph.D. at the Max-Planck Institute for Kohlenforschung in Mülheim a.d. Ruhr (Germany), followed by habilitation and venia legendi in Technical Chemistry at the Friedrich-Schiller-University of Jena (Germany). Currently he is working at DSM (Chemical Sciences, Nutritional Sciences) in Kaiseraugst, Switzerland on developing new catalysts for fine chemicals such as vitamins. He published over 150 articles, chapters and patents. In 2013 Werner Bonrath was awarded with the KGF-SCS Senior Industrial Investigator Award. He is a lecturer at the University of Jena (Germany) and at the University of Basel.