The dehydrogenation of cyclohexene and cyclohexane, and. the hydrogenation of cyclohexenewere studied on the clean and preoxidized surfaces of three platinum single crystals-a Pt(lll), a stepped Pt(S)-[6(111)x(100).] and a kinked Pt(S)-[7(111)x(3l0)]at low pressure (10-6 to 10-Storr total pressure), at 150°C. Oxygen coverages were monitored by Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) , an Auger peak ratio of 0SlO/Pt 237 = .5 having been determined to 14 2 correspond to approximately 5 x 10 oxygen atoms/cm. The surface structures of the clean and oxidized platinum crystals were determined by low energy electron diffraction (LEBD): after high temperature (800°C) oxygen treatment, the predominant oxygen structure observed on the Pt(lll) was a (~x2); the, predominant oxygen structure observed on both the Pt(S)-[6("111)x(100)] and the Pt(S)-[7(111)x (310)] was a (i3 x 13)-R30°. Low coverages of strongly bound oxygen enhanced the rates of the dehydrogenation and hydrogenation reactions, and changed the selectivity of cyclohexene dehydrogenation to benzene over hydrogenation to cyclohexane. These effects of preoxidation on catalytic rates and selectivity were found to be sensitive to the structure of the platinum surface, kink sites playing a particularly active role in the enhancement of dehydrogenation and hydrogenation activity by strongly bound oxygen. Three models are discussed which relate the oxidation of platinurn surfaces to the observed effects on catalytic reactivity and the structure sensitivity. A change in the electronic structure of the platinum surface through oxidatmnprovides the best general model for explaining the oxygen effects, though complex formation iii involving the adsorbed oxygen or surface reconstruction during oxidation may also be important.