Selective oxidation of tetradecanol, a model higher fatty alcohol, on Au/CeO2-Al2O3 catalyst has been investigated to assess the factors that control selectivity. The analysis of the effect of operation conditions (temperature, run time and alcohol/metal (AIM) ratio) on catalytic performance revealed a quite complex reaction network, in which acid formation starts only after a certain level of conversion is reached. This level depends linearly on the total support surface available, indicating that it must be saturated by species generated by the reaction itself to allow acid formation to start. Addition of water to reaction medium did not modify this level, indicating that such species is not adsorbed water, as previously hypothesized, but probably spilled over hydrogen species. The resulting drastic change in the selectivity trends makes the ratio A/M a critical factor to control selectivity to aldehyde and to acid. Selectivity to ester is less sensible to operation parameters. It is noteworthy that aldehyde yields up to 27% with 90% selectivity, and acid yields up to 40% with 81% selectivity can be reached by proper selection of operation parameters. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.