This critical review covers the recent development of the catalytic properties of gold in the selective oxidation of organic compounds, highlighting the exciting contribution to the art of catalysis. The unique, outstanding properties of nanometre-scale particles of gold, a biocompatible non-toxic metal, have allowed the development of a new generation of stable and selective catalysts for the conversion of many organic feedstocks to valuable chemicals. A critical discussion of the results of different research groups is presented along with attempts to correlate the catalytic properties with catalyst morphology in non-equivalent series of experiments. Particular emphasis has been given to the international efforts towards optimised synthesis of products of industrial appeal such as propylene oxide, vinyl acetate monomer, cyclohexanol/cyclohexanone, gluconic acid and glyceric acid (168 references).

This critical review aims to update the recent development in the selective oxidation of organic compounds by gold catalysis, highlighting the progress in the last three years. Following the impressive developments in the last decades, several protocols for catalytic oxidation are today available, which are based on the extraordinary properties of gold in terms of catalytic activity, selectivity, reusability and resistance to poisons. Beside many other applications, gold can be recommended for green processes dedicated to fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals and the food industry owing to its recognized bio-compatibility. The collected literature is focused on experiments concerning the oxidation of different chemical groups and could be of interest, in the wide area of organic chemistry, for improving previous processes or for exploring new catalytic pathways (174 references).