Nanocrystalline powders of copper-substituted magnesium ferrites with general formula Mg1-xCuxFe2O4 (x = 0.00, 0.17, 0.34, 0.50, 0.67, 0.84, 1.00) were prepared for the first time by sol-gel auto-combustion method, using glycine as fuel agent. Solid phase chemical reactions and the occurrence of spinel structure were monitored by using infrared spectroscopy. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the spinel single-phase formation. A shift from cubic structure to tetragonal structure starting with x = 0.84 was also observed. Microstructure of the samples was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and particle size was estimated from the micrographs. Analysis of dielectric properties revealed very low values of dielectric loss at frequencies over 10 MHz. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.