The effect of the platinum particle diameter and the catalyst support was investigated for the aqueous phase selective oxidation of methyl alpha-D-glucopyranoside octyl alpha-D-glucopyranoside and alpha-cyclodextrin with molecular oxygen. No platinum particle size effect was observed in the platinum particle diameter range of 1.4 to 3.0 nm. The structure-insensitivity is attributed to the high degree of surface coverage by oxygen. The rate of deactivation due to over-oxidation of the catalyst increases to a small extent with decreasing platinum particle diameter. The effect of the catalyst support is much larger than the platinum particle size effect. The turnover frequency for platinum on activated carbon and carbon fibrils supported catalyst is 3-7 times higher than for graphite as the catalyst support. The support effect is attributed to the hydrophilic character of the support.