Partial oxidation of lactose over Au-based catalyst system using nanostructured silica materials with improved activity, selectivity and stability was investigated as a novel chemo-catalytic approach for selective synthesis of lactobionic acid (LBA) for therapeutic, pharmaceutical and food grad applications. Highly active gold crystallites dispersed on mesoporous silica (SiO2-meso) using bis-[3-(triethoxysilyl) propyl] tetrasulfide (BTSPT), a silane coupling agent to immobilize gold, were successfully formulated, and their catalytic activity was evaluated in an agitated semi-batch reactor. The catalysts were characterized by N-2 physisorption, XRD, XPS and TEM. The influence of the reaction conditions, i.e., temperature, pH value, metal loading and catalyst/lactose ratio on lactose conversion were investigated. After 100 min of reaction, the catalyst containing 0.7% Au showed the highest catalytic activity (100% lactose conversion) and a 100% selectivity towards LBA, when it was used at a catalyst/lactose ratio of 0.2 under alkaline (pH 9.0) and mild reaction temperature (65 degrees C). (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.