In light of the many similarities between previous studies of the so-called strong metal support interaction (SMSI) involving Gr. VIII metals, and catalytically active Au, it is apparent that these two phenomena must be closely related. That active Au on titania spreads to form a bilayer structure, is electron-rich as determined by theory and experiment, nucleates on reduced Ti defects created by annealing to temperatures >750 K, and is deactivated via sintering in oxygen, is convincing evidence that the same basic principles responsible for activation of Au on titania are operative for SMSI involving Gr. VIII metals.KEY WORDS: gold, titania, CO oxidation, strong metal support interaction, SMSI.The enhanced catalytic activity of small gold clusters has been ascribed to a number of effects: bilayer structures that exhibit metal-nonmetal transitions [1][2][3], the metal-support interface [4][5][6][7], uncoordinated step-and corner atoms [8][9][10][11], strain [11], charge transfer from the support [12,13], and metal cationic sites [14]. Early work on model Au clusters supported on TiO 2 (110) correlated the presence of Au bilayer cluster morphologies (figure 1) with catalytic activity for CO oxidation [1]. These bilayer Au structures have been shown to bind CO approximately 50% more strongly than bulk Au (figure 2) [15]. Furthermore oxygen either alone or in a reaction mixture has been shown to promote sintering of these bilayer Au structures (figure 3) [1]. A recent model study [16] of Au on a highly reduced TiO x ordered film grown on Mo(112) has demonstrated that a coordinatively unsaturated, continuous Au bilayer structure that precludes assess of the reactant to the support, exhibits an exceptional high activity for catalytic CO oxidation (figure 4). The activity of this Au bilayer film is more than an order of magnitude more active than any previous report on a per Au atom basis [16]. A key feature of Au grown on TiO x /Mo(112) is the strength of the interaction between the overlayer Au and the support comprised of strong bonding between Au and reduced Ti atoms of the TiO x support, yielding electron-rich Au [16]. These recent studies are entirely consistent with recent theoretical studies [17] that show the importance of reduced Ti defect sites at the boundary between Au clusters and a TiO 2 interface in determining the Au cluster shape and electronic properties via transfer of charge from the support to Au [18]. Finally a recent theoretical study [19] has shown that a Au-only reaction pathway for a TiO x supported Au bilayer cluster is energetically competitive with alternative pathways requiring reactant-support interactions.In summary the essential features of the interaction of Au with TiO 2 that lead to enhanced catalytic activity are: (1) wetting of the support by the cluster; (2) strong bonding between the Au atoms at the interface with surface defects (reduced Ti sites); (3) electron-rich Au; (4) annealing at temperatures in excess of 750 K, sufficient to create and mobilize surface and bulk defects...