Abstract
The synthesis and investigation of the catalytic properties of Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) is an area of intense research. Despite much effort being made to this field, attaining both high catalytic activity and selectivity at the same time remains elusive. Herein a new mild reductive thiolate‐deprotection strategy is reported to prepare nanoporous silica‐supported ultrasmall AuNP catalysts that show very efficient catalytic activity and high selectivity for oxidation reactions.