[en] One-pot deposition of Au onto TiO₂ has been achieved through directly contacting gold (III) salt with nanosized functionalized TiO₂ support initially obtained by sol–gel process using titanium isopropoxide and citric acid. Citrate groups act as functional moieties able to directly reduce the Au salt avoiding any further reducing treatment. Various gold salts (NaAuCl₄·2H₂O or HAuCl₄·3H₂O) and titanium to citrate (Ti/Cit) molar ratios (20, 50 and 100) were used in order to study the effect of the nature of the precursor and of the citrate content on the final Au particle size and catalytic properties of the as-obtained Au/TiO₂ materials. Au/(TiO₂)_x(Cit)₁ catalysts characterization was performed using N₂ adsorption–desorption, ICP-AES, X-ray diffraction and TEM. The effect of the Ti/Cit molar ratio and of the gold precursor was evaluated. The selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol (BzOH) to benzaldehyde (BzH) was studied as a model reaction. Kinetic analysis showed that the catalytic reaction rate was pseudo first-order and the values of activation energy have been reported. Results showed that the functionalization of TiO₂ by citrate allows tuning the size of the Au nanoparticles deposited onto TiO₂ as well as their morphology. Citrate also strongly enhances the benzyl alcohol oxidation through the control of the size and morphology of gold nanoparticles. - Highlights: • One-pot deposition of Au onto TiO₂ has been achieved. • Citrates act as active sites for selective deposition and reduction of gold. • The presence of citrates influences the size and the morphology of gold NPs. • Au NPs with well-defined morphologies were obtained for Cit/Ti molar ratio of 100. • The selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol was studied as a model reaction