The active participation and nuclearity dependence of vanadyl is directly evidenced via MES/PSD in addition to the identification of reaction intermediates. The intimate interaction of the ceria support and vanadia is highlighted. • Ziemba, M.; Weyel, J.; Hess, C. Approaching C1 Reaction Mechanisms Using Combined Operando and Transient Analysis: A Case Study on Cu/CeO 2 Catalysts during the LT-Water−Gas Shift Reaction. ACS Catal. 2022, 12, 9503−9514. 3 A spectroscopic approach is introduced that allows redox and associative mechanisms to be distinguished. As illustrated for Cu/CeO 2 , the water− gas shift reaction is dominated by a redox mechanism. • Pfeiffer, M.; Hess, C. Application of Transient Infrared Spectroscopy to Investigate the Role of Gold in Ethanol Gas Sensing over Au/SnO 2 . J. Phys. Chem. C 2022, 126, 3980−3992. 4 The detailed gas sensing mechanism is elucidated, including the sequence of reaction steps on the surface, product formation and readsorption ef fects, as well as the relation of the spectroscopic f indings to the sensing behavior.