The invention relates to a catalyst material comprising a support, a first metal and a second metal on said support. The first and second metals are in the form of a chemical compound. The first metal is Fe, Co or Ni, and the second metal is selected from the group consisting of Sn, Zn and In. The invention also relates to a process for the preparation of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) from methane (CH.sub.4) and ammonia (NH.sub.3), wherein the methane and ammonia are contacted with a catalyst according to the invention.

Disclosed is a process for co-manufacture of ACRN and HCN with improved HCN selectivity and reduced solids formation in a shared product recovery section.

A reactor system and a process for carrying out the reaction of a feed gas comprising an alkane such as methane, and ammonia to hydrogen cyanide and/or a nitrile are provided, where the heat for the endothermic reaction is provided by resistance heating. In particular, the reaction is the BMA (Blausure aus Methan und Ammoniak) reaction.