The invention concerns high performance adsorbents based on activated carbon of high microporosity which are present in the form of discrete grains of activated carbon, preferably in spherical form, and which are characterized by the following parameters: a Gurvich total pore volume of at least 0.7 cm.sup.3/g, at least 70% of this total pore volume being formed by micropores having pore diameters of .ltoreq.20 .ANG., a measure of central tendency pore diameter of not more than 30 .ANG., and a BET surface area of at least 1500 m.sup.2/g. These high performance adsorbents are particularly useful for the adsorption of toxins, noxiants and odors, in particular from gas or to be more precise air streams, for purifying or cleaning gases, such as in particular air, for application in medicine or to be more precise pharmacy and as sorptive storage media for gases, in particular hydrogen.