The combination of gold (Au-0) and tricobalt tetraoxide (CO3O4) prepared by coprecipitation gives high-performance heterogeneous catalysts for hydroformylation reaction with selectivity above 85% in desired aldehydes, although neither Au-0 nor Co3O4 have been demonstrated in this reaction and show poor activities. The Au/Co3O4 catalysts can be recycled by simple decantation with slight decrease in catalytic activity along with recycle times. The role of Au may mainly promote in situ reduction Of Co3O4 to Co-0 catalyzing the hydroformylation reaction.