The effect of iron on the structural and catalytic properties of CuMnZrO2 catalysts used for higher alcohols synthesis has been investigated by several techniques (BET, X-ray diffraction (XRD), extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS), temperature program reduction (TPR), CO-FTIR and CO hydrogenation). It was found that the presence of iron resulted in substantial changes in both structure properties and catalytic performance. The copper dispersion increased and the catalyst stabilization was improved. The role of iron was dependent on the method of catalyst preparation. The co-precipitation method produced highly dispersed copper species, which favored the synthesis of methanol and branched alcohols. However, the wetness impregnation method gave rise to highly dispersed copper and copper-iron phase, which showed a good performance for synthesis of straight-chain alcohols. Such differences in the performance of catalysts could be attributed to the extent of iron oxide-support interaction, which led to the presence of metallic iron phases in the reduced catalyst. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.