Heterogeneous catalysis is the central enabling technology of fossil fuel conversion, chemical production, and vehicular and power plant emissions clean-up. Many of the catalysts are precious metals finely dispersed on porous high-area supports, such as metal oxides, zeolites, and carbon. The metals are usually present as zerovalent nanoparticles, and when the particles are made When metal nanoparticles on supports are made smaller and smaller-to the limit of atomic dispersion-they become cationic and take on new catalytic properties that are only recently being discovered. The synthesis of these materials is reviewed, including their structure characterization-especially by atomic-resolution electron microscopy and X-ray absorption and infrared spectroscopies-and relationships between structure and catalyst performance, for reactions including hydrogenations, oxidations, and the water gas shift. Structure determination is challenging because of the intrinsic nonuniformity of the support surfaces-and therefore the structures on them-but fundamental understanding has advanced rapidly, benefiting from nearly uniform catalysts consisting of metals on well-defined-crystalline-supports and their characterization by spectroscopy and microscopy. Recent advances in atomic-resolution electron microscopy have spurred the field, providing stunning images and deep insights into structure. The iridium catalysts have typically been made from organoiridium precursors, opening the way to understanding and control of the metal-support bonding and ligands on the metal, including catalytic reaction intermediates. Platinum catalysts are usually made with less precision, from salt precursors, but they catalyze a wider array of reactions than the iridium, typically being stable at higher temperatures and seemingly offering rich prospect for discovery of new catalysts.smaller to the atomic limit, the metals become cations anchored through metaloxygen or metal-carbon bonds. When all the metal atoms are accessible to reactants, they function with maximum efficiency and economy, and they have properties different from those in nanoparticles.Atomically dispersed supported metal catalysts have a long scientific and technological history. [1] Prominent industrial catalysts include oxophilic metals present as cations on oxide supports, illustrated by chromium complexes on silica for ethylene polymerization [2] and titanium cations in zeolite frameworks for propylene epoxidation. [3] However, the metals most widely applied in supported catalysts are noble-and expensive-typified by platinum and iridium. These are applied as supported nanoparticles. But now there is an explosion of research on atomically dispersed platinum and iridium. We assess it here. The intense interest reflects powerful, newly developed methods for fundamental research and tantalizing, yet unrealized, prospects for new applications of this class of material. Reports of supported platinum catalysts have long included high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) im...