This paper describes an emerging synthetic route for acetoin production via the anaerobic dehydrogenation of 2,3-butanediol to give a deep understanding of the specific dehydrogenation behavior of diols. Cu/SBA-15-x-T prepared by the ammonia evaporation method was applied to the dehydrogenation of 2,3-butanediol. The results of XRD, FTIR, H-2-TPR, XPS, and NH3-TPD characterization verified that the CuO-like phase, with a Cu2+O2- pair, existed in the form of -Si-O-Cu-O-Si- structures in Cu/SBA-15-x-T catalysts. The amounts of the CuO-like phase and Cu-0 can be tuned simultaneously by adjusting the synthetic solution alkalinity and reduction temperature to achieve an optimal synergic effect between the CuO-like phase and Cu-0 sites. Compared with the catalytic inertness of Cu catalysts prepared by the conventional impregnation method, the resulting Cu/SBA-15-10.0-300 showed superior catalytic performance (reaction rate: 9.90 x 10(-3) mol.min(-1)g(-1)) in 2,3-butanediol dehydrogenation. Studies on the structure-performance correlation based on the kinetic study revealed that the catalytic activity of Cu/SBA-15-x-T catalysts is attributable to synergic catalysis between the interfacial CuO-like phase and Cu-0 sites, which favors the bond cleavage of O-H and alpha-C-H, respectively. (C) 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.