Heterogeneously catalyzed direct cross-coupling of secondary alcohols to β-disubstituted ketones by Cu/γ-Al2O3

•The cross-coupling of secondary alcohols has been deeply developed from homogeneous catalysis to heterogeneous catalysis.•The Cu-supported γ-Al2O3 heterogeneous catalyst realizes high efficiency and high selectivity to catalyze the cross-coupling of secondary alcohols.•The mechanism of heterogeneously catalyzed cross-coupling of secondary alcohols was initially proposed.