In this review we will try to give an integrated view of the relation
between the structure and the catalytic behaviour of zeolitic material
s, covering both the compositional and the structural aspects. Due to
the amount of work that has been done in this wide area of zeolite cat
alysis this will, necessarily, be an incomplete although, hopefully, u
nbiased work. The paper will refer, not only to the relation that can
be observed with natural and as-synthesised zeolites, but also to the
wide range of techniques that are currently available for the 'tuning'
of the catalytic properties of zeolitic materials. A special emphasis
will be placed in all the aspects concerning shape selective catalysi
s, which is certainly the most striking form of a structure-activity r
elationship in heterogeneous catalysis.