Monometallic copper and bimetallic palladium-copper catalysts supported on ZnO-Al₂O₃ and ZrO₂-Al₂O₃ were prepared by conventional impregnation method and tested in methanol synthesis reaction under elevated pressure (3.5 MPa) in gradientless reactor at 220 °C. The physicochemical properties of prepared catalytic systems were studied using BET, X-Ray, TPR-H₂, TPD-NH₃ techniques. The promotion effect of palladium on catalytic activity and selectivity of copper supported catalyst in methanol synthesis reaction was proven. The highest activity of this system is explained by the Pd-Cu alloy formation.

Regularities of the low-temperature steam conversion or mild steam reforming (MSR) of propane in the presence of excess methane over Nicontaining catalyst were thoroughly studied. MSR of the methane-propane mixture was shown to proceed through two stages including the irreversible steam conversion of methane to carbon dioxide and hydrogen and the reversible reaction of methanation of carbon dioxide. The latter reaction is quasi-equilibrium at above ≈250 °C. The first-order rate independent of the concentrations of methane, carbon dioxide and water vapor and the activation energy equal to ca. 120 kJ/mol are characteristic of the propane transformation during MSR of the methanepropane mixture. This is a rather simple macrokinetic scheme that allows the experimental data to be correctly described and temperature and mixture flow rate to be predicted for achieving the maximal propane conversion.

In the last two decades, intensive studies on hydrotreatment of oil fractions were focused on carbon-containing catalysts prepared with carbonized alumina, carbon materials as the supports and metal carbides as active components. In the Review, properties of various carboncontaining catalysts are discussed, peculiar applications of carbon supports demonstrated that result from their necessary chemical pretreatment (oxidation, leaching) and the use of aqueous organic solvents for impregnation to produce disperse active components of the catalysts.

Three process flowsheets combining processes of catalytic reforming, interstage separation and reformate hydroisomerization were examined to improve the reformate yield of quality (minimized content of aromatic hydrocarbons including benzene). It was shown that the optimal version is the flowsheet including rectification of the intermediate reformate into three fractions (IBP 85 °C, 85–150 °C, and EBP 150 °C) that allowed, against the traditional catalytic fixed bed reforming, high-octane gasoline components with a lower benzene content (less than 1 wt %) to be produced at a noticeable increase in the reformate yield (4–5 wt %) and the octane number (up to 2 point RON). Effective catalysts were chosen for the stages of reforming and hydroisomerization; the catalysts were used for experimental modeling of the flowsheets of combined reforming and hydroisomerization under study. The results obtained supported the analytic estimation of the efficiency of the developed technology.

Co(Ni)-PMo(W)/Al₂O₃ catalysts were prepared using Keggin heteropoly acids H₃PMo(W)₁₂O₄₀ and cobalt (nickel) citrate. Physicochemicalproperties of the catalysts were characterized using low-temperature nitrogen adsorption, XPS and HRTEM techniques. Catalytic properties were studied during hydrotreatment of a model feedstock containing dibenzothiophene, naphthalene and quinoline in different proportions (up to 1000 ppm of nitrogen), as well as during hydrotreatment of straight-run diesel fraction and vacuum gasoil. The composition of Со(Ni)-PMo(W)/Al₂O₃ catalysts was shown to play a crucial role in the hydrotreatment of complex hydrocarbon feedstock. The Ni-PW/Al₂O₃ catalyst was more stable to organonitrogen inhibitors than Ni(Co)-PMo/Al₂O₃ bearing more reactive active centers. The highest conversions of sulfur- and nitrogen-containing compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons during hydrotreatment of vacuum gasoil were observed with the Ni-PW/Al₂O₃ catalyst.

Specific features and potentialities of autoclave technologies for decomposition of oil refining catalysts were studied to develop a method for in-process monitoring of changes in the chemical and phase composition of the catalysts. Under autoclave conditions, the time of complete dissolution of oxide phases (hydrotreatment catalysts) was established to shorten from 2 hours to 5–10 min, and the time of platinum opening (reforming catalysts) to be no more than 10 min. In addition, the opening in a closed system prevents from the component loss and from environmental air contamination. It was shown that individual components of the catalysts can be selectively dissolved, isolated and concentrated; the concentrated phases can be used for XPS studies. For example, XPS studies of the dissolved aluminium-containing phase of the spent reforming catalyst revealed the presence of the corundum phase (1,5 %) that indicated the catalyst operation at too high temperatures. A method for estimation of platinum particle size in the catalysts using the quantity of the metal dissolved under the action of chemisorbed oxygen in non-oxidizing acidic media under autoclave conditions was suggested. In the reforming catalysts, the platinum particles were shown to change in size from 4 to 25 nm during operation.

Catalytic properties of complex perovskite-like gadolinium and strontium oxides were studied during carbon dioxide conversion of methane and production of gaseous olefins via hydrogenation of carbon monoxide. The Gd₂SrFe₂O₇ and Gd_2–xSr_1+xFe₂O₇ (x = 0.1; 0.2; 0.3; 0.4) samples were prepared by the sol-gel method and ceramic technology, and characterized using XPS, SEM, photon correlation spectroscopy, Moessbauer spectroscopy and low-temperature nitrogen desorption. Better catalytic performance was observed with the catalysts prepared by the sol-gel method but not with the ceramic systems. Non-isovalent substitution of Sr²⁺ for Gd³⁺ resulted in distortion of the complex oxide structure and in the appearance of heterovalent states of iron atoms (Fe³⁺ and Fe⁴⁺) that affected the reactant conversions and selectivities to the target products. The Gd_2–xSr_1+xFe₂O₇ (x = 0.3) catalyst was most active to carbon dioxide conversion of methane and most selective to unsaturated hydrocarbons (ethylene and propylene) during hydrogenation of carbon monoxide.

Both industrially implemented and developed technologies for chemical wood processing are aimed at preferable transformation of the cellulose component into target products, while effective methods for processing of lignin, a bulky waste, are as yet unavailable. The present study was focused on the influence of NiCuМо/SiO₂ catalysts on thermal transformations of acetonelignin in the superctirtical butanol medium at 280, 300, 350 °C. Chromatomass spectrometric and ¹³C NMR spectroscopic techniques were used for characterization to the liquid products. Thermochemical transformations of butanol were not observed at the temperature below 300 °C. The butanol conversion was increased up to 36–40 wt % in the presence of the catalysts. In the presence of the NiCuМо/SiO₂ catalysts at 300 °C, the yield of hexane-solluble products of acetonelignin thermotransformations increased by factor of 2.4, while the solid residue yield was factor of 3.3 decreased. Under these conditions, the proportion of methoxyphenols, including syringol, in the hexane-soluble products was factor of 14 lower. ¹³C NMR data indicated that the catalytic transformations of acetonelignin into acetone-soluble liquid products are accompanied by the cleavage of β–O–4 bonds between structural elements of lignin and by a decrease in the content of methoxyl groups predominantly in syringal structural units of the products formed.

Part 2 of the Review deals with modern approaches to biotechnological processing of lignocellulosic biomass into value-added products. Among the approaches under consideration are development of more effective enzymes for depolymerization of the biomass components, as well as properties of microorganisms used for fermentation of sugars produced from biomass. Various biotechnological approaches to fermentation of the depolymerization products SHF, SSF, NSSF, SSFF, SSCF and CBP are discussed. It is shown that the main trends in the development of new biotechnological methods for biomass processing are applications of genetic engineering and synthetic biology, as well as minimization of technological stages. It is emphasized that the development of one-stage processing of lignocellulosic biomass is promising for the creation of new effective technologies to produce in-demand materials.

Part 3 of the Review is devoted to modern aspects of the production of important chemicals such as ethanol, n-butanol, isobutanol, 2,3-butanediol, lactic and amber acids using biotechnological processes for treatment of cellulose biomass. Various approaches (including SHF, SSF, SSCF and CBP) to preparation of the target compounds are compared. It is shown that the consolidates lignocellulose processing is promising for the direct synthesis of the target compounds via fermentation but still less effective than the other employed processes. The progress in genetic engineering of microorganisms and application of methods of systems biology will allow more effective producers and improved biotechnological processes based thereon to be created.