Vapor phase catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) of aqueous levulinic acid (LA) with formic acid as hydrogen source over different copper catalysts is reported. The Cu-SiO2 showed the highest LA conversion (56%) and selectivity to gamma-valerolactone (GVL, 87%) at 250 degrees C. Analysis indicates that the presence of acid sites are responsible for the cleavage of C-O bonds forming angelicalactone intermediate followed by its hydrogenation to GVL over copper species. Even though the acid sites are necessary a quantitative correlation between acid sites and LA conversion was not observed. Characterization indicated that the higher conversion over Cu-SiO2 can be related to metal support interaction as evident from higher reduction temperature of copper species in H-2-TPR compared to other catalysts.