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• The Grasselli team at SOHIO developed and optimized the SOHIO multicomponent catalyst for ammoxidation of propene and ammonia to acrylonitrile. • The Grasselli team deduced mechanistic oncepts from their experiments for guidance in optimization, but later accepted the Goddard mechanism. • This stimulated Goddard at Caltech to use Quantum Mechanics to provide a new mechanistic basis to explain atomistic details of mechanism. This paper is based on the talk given by Goddard at the symposium "New Vistas in Heterogeneous Catalysis: Symposium in honor of Robert Grasselli" sponsored by the CATL division of the ACS held on August 21, 2018 at the ACS national meeting in Boston MA. It tells the story about how Bob Grasselli had a dramatic influence on the research I have carried out on heterogeneous catalysis, particularly on ammoxidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]