Long aliphatic esters were prepared by the one-step catalytic self-esterification of primary alcohols using molecular oxygen as a green oxidant and supported gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) as catalyst. This heterogeneous catalyst achieved high activity and selectivity in a wide range of less reactive straight-chain alcohols (C-4-C-12) at atmospheric pressure 02 and near ambient temperature (45 degrees C). Under optimised conditions, the catalyst with Au loading of 3 wt% achieved the highest catalytic activity and selectivity. The AuNP catalysts are efficient and readily recyclable. The finding of this study may inspire further studies on new efficient catalytic systems for a wide range of organic syntheses using supported AuNP catalysts. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.