Recyclable gold nanoparticle catalyst for the aerobic alcohol oxidation and C–C bond forming reaction between primary alcohols and ketones under ambient conditions

A recyclable gold catalyst is synthesized from readily available reagents by immobilizing gold nanoparticles in aluminum oxyhydroxide support through a simple sol–gel method. The catalyst showed the high activity even at room temperature in the aerobic oxidation of various alcohols and in the coupling reaction between primary alcohols and ketones.