The n-octyl alcohol dehydrogenation was investigated over a series of catalysts prepared by calcination of hydrotalcite-like compounds with different Cu loading (0-100%, taking into account only cations M2+). The characterization of the solids was per-formed by XRD, XPS and nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurements. As the Cu-0 was found as the active specie, the Mg allowed to promote the high dispersion of Cu-0. The kinetic of the reaction was examined and a possible mechanism was proposed. Then, this proposed kinetic model for n-octyl alcohol dehydrogenation on the HT60 catalyst gave a satisfactory fit to the reaction rate data for each reaction temperature studied. Physically meaningful values for the equilibrium constant, the adsorption constant, the kinetic constant and the activation energy could be obtained. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.