The present disclosure relates generally to ceramic materials suitable for use as catalyst support materials, catalysts using such materials and methods for using them, such as methods for converting sugars, sugar alcohols, glycerol, and bio-renewable organic acids to commercially-valuable chemicals and intermediates. One aspect of the invention is a ceramic material including zirconium oxide and one or more metal oxides selected from nickel oxide, copper oxide, cobalt oxide, iron oxide and zinc oxide, the ceramic material being at least about 50 wt. % zirconium oxide. In certain embodiments, the ceramic material is substantially free of any binder, extrusion aid or additional stabilizing agent.

A compound of the formula Sb.sub.xFe.sub.1O.sub.y (I) in which x varies from 0.4 to 1 inclusive and y varies from 1.6 to 4 inclusive, may be used as a catalyst for catalyzing the ammoxidation reaction of an alcohol of following formula (II) CH.sub.2C(R.sup.1)CH.sub.2OH (II) in which R.sup.1 represents a hydrogen atom or a methyl radical, to give nitrile of following formula (III) CH.sub.2C(R.sup.1)CN (III) in which R.sup.1 has the same meaning as in above formula (II), the said reaction being carried out in the gas phase, the said gas phase comprising at least oxygen and ammonia. The present invention also relates to the process for the ammoxidation of an alcohol of formula (II) employing a compound of formula (I) as catalyst.

An ammoxidation catalyst includes a metal oxide represented by Chemical Formula 1 supported on a silica carrier, wherein the catalyst has pores having a diameter of 5 to 200 nm, a pore volume of 0.1 to 3.0 cm.sup.3/g, and a BET surface area of 50 m2/g to 1,000 m2/g:
Mo.sub.12Bi.sub.aFe.sub.bA.sub.cB.sub.dC.sub.eO.sub.xChemical Formula 1 wherein in Chemical Formula 1, A is one or more elements of Ni, Mn, Co, Zn, Mg, Ca, and Ba, B is one or more elements of Li, Na, K, Rb, and Cs, C is one or more elements of Cr, W, B, Al, Ca, and V, and a to e, and x are respectively fractions of each atom or atomic group, wherein a is 0.1 to 5, b is 0.1 to 5, c is 0.1 to 10, d is 0.1 to 2, e is 0 to 10, and x is 24 to 48.

An ammoxidation catalyst includes a metal oxide represented by Chemical Formula 1, wherein a first peak having intensity of A appears in the 2 range of 26.3=0.5, and a second peak having intensity of B appears in the 2 range of 28.30.5 in X ray diffraction analysis by CuK, and an intensity ratio (A/B) of the first peak to the second peak is 1.5 or more:
Mo.sub.xBi.sub.aFe.sub.bA.sub.cB.sub.dC.sub.eD.sub.fO.sub.yChemical Formula 1 wherein in Chemical Formula 1, A and B are different from each other, and each independently, are one or more elements of Ni, Mn, Co, Zn, Mg, Ca, and Ba, C is one or more elements of Li, Na, K, Rb, and Cs, D is one or more elements of Cr, W, B, Al, Ca, and V, a to f, x, and y are respectively mole fractions of each atom or atomic group, a is 0.1 to 7, b is 0.1 to 7, provided that the sum of a and b is 0.1 to 7, c is 0.1 to 10, d is 0.01 to 5, e is 0.1 to 10, f is 0 to 10, x is 11 to 14, y is a value determined by each oxidation number of Mo, Bi, Fe, A, B, C, and D.

Provided is a catalyst having high activity and yield of a target product for producing an unsaturated aldehyde and/or an unsaturated carboxylic acid and further having high mechanical strength. The catalyst is a catalyst prepared by a method in which a catalyst formulation satisfies specified atomic ratios; and in the preparation thereof, a molybdenum component raw material is an ammonium molybdate, a solvent for dissolving the ammonium molybdate is water, a bismuth component raw material is bismuth nitrate, and a solvent for dissolving bismuth nitrate is a nitric acid aqueous solution, and the weight of water for dissolving the ammonium molybdate, the weight of the nitric acid aqueous solution for dissolving the bismuth nitrate, and the acid concentration of the nitric acid aqueous solution are satisfied with specified ranges, respectively.