The direct a-alkylation of ketones with primary alcohols to obtain the corresponding saturated coupled ketones was achieved with bimetallic gold(Au)-palladium(Pd) nanoparticles(NPs) supported on a transition metal oxide (such as CeO2). This system demonstrated a higher catalytic property than Au/CeO2 and Pd/CeO2 under visible light irradiation at 40 +/- 3 degrees C in an Ar atmosphere. Such phenomenon was caused by the synergistic effect between Au and Pd. Isopropyl alcohol was used as the solvent and CH3ONa as the base. The effect of the bimetallic Au-Pd mass ratio and the two different transition metal oxide supports (such as CeO2 or ZrO2) during the reaction process was studied. The highest catalytic activity of those examined happened with the 1.5 wt% Au-1.5 wt%Pd (Au and Pd mass ratio I :1)/CeO2 photo-catalyst. The intensity and wavelength of the visible light had a strong influence on the system. The catalyst can be reused for four times. A reaction mechanism was proposed for the a-alkylation of ketones with primary alcohols. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.