In the present study, mixed-phase Cu-Al catalysts have been synthesized by an autocombustion method using glycine as fuel. By adjusting the ratio of glycine, the self-reductive Cu-Al mixed oxides were prepared and demonstrated higher activity than a commercial Cu-based catalyst in the catalytic performance test, where the WHSV was 12/h and the steam/methanol ratio was 1.1. The relationships between the physicochemical properties of the prepared Cu-Al catalysts and the catalytic performance have thoroughly been investigated by various characterization methods, such as BET, in-situ XRD and TEM.