Catalytic oxidation of nitrogen containing compounds for nitrogen determination

•The catalytic oxidation of acetonitrile over Pt, Fe, Cu and Cu-Ce/Al2O3 catalysts were studied.•Oxidation of acetonitrile to N2, N2O and NO takes place by different reaction routes depending on catalyst structure.•Direct oxidation of cyanide and isocyanide species is favored over Pt/Al2O3 catalyst.•High temperature catalytic oxidation activity of catalyst samples were tested for various nitrogenous components.•Fe/Al2O3 catalyst has promising high temperature catalytic oxidation activity for quantitative NO determination.