The catalytic cracking of light diesel oil （235–337 ＆#176;C） over gold‐modified ZSM‐5 was investigated in a small confined fluidized bed at 460 ＆#176;C and ambient pressure. Different Au/ZSM‐5 catalysts were prepared by a modified deposition‐precipitation method by changing the preparation procedure and the amount of gold loading and were characterized by X‐ray diffraction, N2 adsorp‐tion‐desorption, temperature‐programmed desorption of NH3, transmission electron microscopy and inductively coupled plasma spectrometer. It was found that a small amount of gold had a posi‐tive effect on the catalytic cracking of light diesel oil and increased propylene production at a rela‐tively low temperature. The maintenance of the ZSM‐5 MFI structure, pore size distribution and the density of weak and strong acid sites of the Au/ZSM‐5 catalysts depended on the preparation pa‐rameters and the Au loading. Simultaneous enhancement of the micro‐activity and propylene pro‐duction relies on a synergy between the pore size distribution and the relative intensity of the weak and strong acid sites. A significant improvement in the micro‐activity index with an increase of 4.5 units and in the propylene selectivity with an increase of 23.2 units was obtained over the Au/ZSM‐5 catalyst with an actual Au loading of 0.17 wt%.
