Catalysts, comprising gold supported on titanium nitride and oxynitride, have been prepared by deposition-precipitation from HAuCl4.3H(2)O. For the synthesis conditions used, no loss of the nitrogen content or specific surface area of the supports was detected. Metallic Au is homogeneously dispersed on the surface of TiN samples, with particle sizes ranging from 3mn to 1 pun. However, for TiON samples, where TiN and TiO2 phases coexist, the Au agglomerates forming large particles (>10 mum) and nanometric gold is only detected in association with the more basic TiN phase.