This paper focuses on subsurface oxygen and its influence on pattern formation during CO-oxidation on platinum surfaces. For the observation of spatiotemporal pattern formation during catalytic reactions the photoelectron emission microscope (PEEM) has proven to be an excellent real-time imaging instrument, capable of tracking local work function changes. The existence of subsurface oxygen on platinumlike surfaces has been extensively discussed and for palladium its presence has been clearly established during rate oscillations. Subsurface oxygen is defined at this point as an atomic O species located directly underneath the uppermost metal crystal layer; its dipole moment therefore considerably lowers the work function of the surface. Here we review some of the investigations involving subsurface oxygen, focusing on the role subsurface oxygen might play in pattern formation during CO-oxidation on platinum. We will also present some new results, where this species clearly interacts with chemisorbed oxygen under restrictions by boundary conditions on the Pt(110) single crystal. These previously (through microlithography) constructed domain boundaries on the surface are made out of Rh or Pd, and they are acting as an additional source of CO molecules for the Pt surface. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.