Highly dispersed gold based catalysts supported on zirconia were employed in the oxidative esterification of furfural by an efficient and sustainable process. Au/ZrO2 catalysts were calcined at different temperatures in order to modulate gold nanosize. A detailed characterization was carried out for the sake of ascertaining if micro structural changes occurred, and the size issue was discussed. Catalysts stability and recycling were investigated too, and the opportunity of reusability by thermal oxidation at a proper temperature was successfully proved. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.