Catalytic depolymerization of lignin is still a challenge due to its low conversion and repolymerization of the reactive intermediates. Reductive depolymerization over supported nickel catalysts with probable surface acidic and basic properties is a very promising process. It is therefore very important to investigate the effect of acidity and basicity of the supports on catalytic reactivity. In this paper, we synthesized a series of nickel based catalysts supported on ZnO-Al2O3 composites with varying Zn/Al atom ratios (Zn/Al = 2, 3, 5, 8) and tested their catalytic performances over a model compound 2-phenoxy-1-phenylethanone containing beta-O-4 bond. All these catalysts showed 100% conversion by reacting at 250 degrees C for 2 h under 2 MPa of H-2. Higher selectivity towards ethylcyclohexane could be obtained over the catalyst Ni/ZnO-Al2O3-5. The possible cleavage pathways of selective oxidized beta-O-4 ether linkage have been proposed.