Mesoporous aluminosilicates (Al-containing NaMCM-41) were applied as catalyst supports for oxidative coupling of P-naphthol and substituted beta-naphthols due to their remarkable features such as surface area, ordered mesopores and high thermal stability. The NaMCM-41 supported copper catalysts prepared by impregnation method, and Cu-NaMCM-41 was prepared by incorporating copper during synthesis. Oxidative coupling of beta-naphthol reaction was studied using molecular oxygen as oxidant. The copper supported NaMCM-41 catalysts were prepared with different Si/Al ratios and calcined from 120 to 420 degreesC were observed to show varied product selectivity. The NaMCM-41 supported: copper catalysts and Cu-NaMCM-41 were more active than the corresponding Cu/Fe supported on NaY zeolite. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), temperature programmed reduction (TPR), UV-DRS, ICPMS and BET surface area techniques and the reaction products were confirmed by H-1-NMR, FTIR and HRMS. An attempt has been made to explain the product selectivity of the catalysts discussed with the above techniques. The high dispersion of Cu+2 species observed in the catalysts having high Si/Al ratios in NaMCM-41 support and catalysts that are calcined at low temperatures, Le. less than 420 C, yielded an unexpected product perylene diol. A comparatively low dispersion of Cu+2 species, noticed in catalysts having low Si/Al ratios and calcined at high temperatures, yielded binapthol as the coupled product. The effect of the variation of catalyst and the solvent are also studied. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.