This invention is directed to a process for making a salt of a carboxylic
acid. The process comprises contacting a catalyst with an alkaline
mixture comprising a primary alcohol. In one embodiment, the catalyst
comprises a metal supporting structure (preferably a metal sponge
supporting structure comprising at least about 10% by weight nickel)
having a copper-containing active phase at the surface thereof and iron
as a catalyst modifier. The supporting structure is resistant to
deformation under the conditions of the dehydrogenation reaction. This
invention is also directed to novel nickel-containing catalysts having a
copper-containing active phase and iron as a catalyst modifier which may,
for example, be used in the above process. This invention is further
directed to processes for making such catalysts.