Toward catalytic oxidation of toluene, Cu-O-Mn/gamma-Al2O3 catalysts with series molar ratios of Cu/Mn were prepared using an impregnation method. The surface structure and chemical state of the as-prepared catalysts were characterized by the combination of X-ray diffraction (XRD), N-2 adsorption/desorption, UV-vis spectroscopy (UV-vis), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and H-2 temperature programmed reduction (H-2-TPR). The results demonstrated that copper oxide and manganese oxide were highly dispersed on the gamma-Al2O3 support. Meanwhile, there is an interaction between copper oxide and manganese oxide, depending on the atomic ratio of Cu/Mn. At the ratio of Cu/Mn = 1:1.5, the interaction between Cu and Mn oxides reached the strongest, thus leading to the highest catalytic activity and turn over frequency among all of the ratios. The temperature for complete combustion of toluene over the strongest interaction sample could be 350 degrees C, which could further decrease to 300 degrees C when tuning the loading amount of Cu and Mn. Findings in this work are important for the design of efficient catalyst by tuning the interaction between each components. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.