Au/h-BN catalysts have been prepared by wet impregnation in order to combine the high activity of gold with the promising h-BN support to optimize the catalytic performances in lactose oxidation. After 1 h reaction, the catalysts were more active than all the Pd/h-BN catalysts described in previous works: 100% yield was reached after 2 h for a Au/h-BN catalyst prepared in water and containing only 1 wt.% of gold. The influence of alpha-Al2O3, gamma-Al2O3 and C-black as supports for Au was compared to h-BN and Au/alpha-Al2O3 was the most active. All of them exhibited 100% selectivity toward lactobionic acid. After a second run, Au/gamma-Al2O3 presented a loss of selectivity and all were less active than during their first run. Au/h-BN and Au/alpha-Al2O3 have been regenerated and a thermal treatment permits to keep the catalysts active with 100% selectivity. Au/h-BN was the most active after regeneration thanks to the more facile poison removal from its surface and the high stability of boron nitride. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.