Nickel(II) containing magnesium-aluminum (3/1) hydrotalcite(HT)-type anionic clays have been prepared by co-precipitation and tested for a catalyst for liquid-phase oxidation of alcohols with molecular oxygen. The Ni substitution for the Mg site in Mg3Al HT resulted in an appearance of the catalytic activity and the composition of Mg2.5SNi0.5Al HT was the most effective. The oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols afforded the corresponding carbonyl compounds mainly; benzyl alcohol was the most efficiently oxidized to benzaldehyde. The yield of benzaldehyde over the hydrotalcite catalyst increased significantly with increasing nickel content up to ca. 7.6 wt%, where atomically isolated and octahedrally coordinated Ni(II) sites was effective for the oxidation with molecular oxygen. Use of non-polar solvents, such as hexane, cyclohexane, and toluene, was favorable for the oxidation reaction, among which toluene afforded the highest yield of benzaldehyde. The octahedrally coordinated Ni(H) cations incorporated inside the framework of hydrotalcite do not leach during the reaction and worked as a heterogeneous catalyst. It is considered that the Ni(II) site worked as the active site by activating molecular oxygen assisted by the Mg(II) as a base and simultaneously alcohol was activated by the Al(HI) as an acid, resulting in an enhancement of the activity of the Mg2.5Ni0.5Al HT heterogeneous catalyst for alcohol oxidation. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.