The present invention relates to a selective catalyst compositions and their use for the oxidation of selective for and / or ethylene oxidation of ethane ethyl acetate, the composition, to the molybdenum, vanadium, in the absence of palladium according to the formula niobium, gold contain a combination of the element with oxygen: Mo _a W _b Au _c V _d Nb _e Z _f [wherein, Z represents B, Al, Ga, in, Ge, Sn, Pb, Sb, Cu, Pt, Ag, Fe and is one or more element selected from the group consisting of Re; a, b, c, d, e and f are, according to represent the gram atom ratio of the elements: 0 <a ≤1; 0 ≤b <1 and a + b = 1; 10 ^-5 <c ≤0.02; 0 <d ≤2; 0 <e ≤1; And a 0.0001 ≤f ≤0.05].