The density functional theory (DFT) was applied to investigate the promotion effects of single Cu and Pd atoms deposition on gamma-Al2O3 surface for the adsorption and dissociation of H-2 molecule, which is of importance for many catalysis reactions. Due to its strong Lewis acidity, the tri-coordinated surface Al site was identified to be the most preferable site for both Cu and Pd location. The inner surface electrons rearrangement from O to Al of alumina was found to be a key factor to stabilize the Cu/Pd adsorption configurations, rather than the total electrons transfer between Cu/Pd and the surface. It was found that the supported Cu and Pd atoms are more active for H-2 dissociation than the clean gamma-Al2O3 surface. The supported Pd is more active than Cu for H-2 dissociation. In addition, the metal-support interaction of the gamma-Al2O3 supported Cu/Pd atoms are more favored than the metal-metal interaction of the metal clusters for the H-2 dissociated adsorption. Crown Copyright (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.