Functional resins are plausible candidates for supporting catalytically active metal nanoclusters alternative, or complementary to conventional supports such as amorphous carbon, metal oxides, zeolites. Mechanical and thermal stabilities are fair and perfectly suitable to application in the realm of fine chemistry. The polymer framework turns out to be a designable template for controlling nanoclusters size and size distributions. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V All rights reserved.