Gold, platinum and iridium colloids were supported on sulfonic acid-functionalized silica and were employed for the reductive amination of furfural. The catalysts were characterized by N-2-physisorption at 77K, X-ray diffraction, H-2 chemisorption and XPS. The results indicated that Ir, Au and Pt colloids were uniformly dispersed on the SiO2-SO3H support. XPS results showed the interaction of sulfonic acid groups and metal sites which favors the formation of imine and its subsequent hydrogenation to amine. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.