In recent decade, Au nanoclusters of atomic precision(Au_nL_m, where L = organic ligand: thiolate and phosphine) have been shown as a new promising nanogold catalyst. The well-de fined Au_nL_m catalysts possess unique electronic properties and frameworks, providing an excellent opportunity to correlate the intrinsic catalytic behavior with the cluster's framework as well as to study the catalytic mechanisms over gold nanoclusters. In this review, we only demonstrate the important roles of the gold nanoclusters in the oxygen activation(e.g.,~3O_2 to ~1O_2) and their selective oxidations in the presence of oxygen(e.g., CO to CO_2, sul fides to sulfoxides, alcohol to aldehyde, styrene to styrene epoxide, amines to imines, and glucose to gluconic acid). The size-speci ficity(Au_(25)(1.3 nm), Au_(38)(1.5 nm), Au_(144)(1.9 nm), etc.), ligand engineering(e.g., aromatic vs aliphatic), and doping effects(e.g., copper, silver, palladium, and platinum)are discussed in details. Finally, the proposed reactions' mechanism and the relationships of clusters' structure and activity at the atomic level also are presented.
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