Ceria, titania, and zirconia supported ruthenium and copper catalysts were tested in the butyraldehyde production by gas phase n-butanol partial oxidation. These catalysts were characterized by means of N-2 adsorption-desorption isotherms, temperature-programmed reduction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy techniques. The activity tests were performed in a fixed bed reactor at 0.1 MPa and 623 K using air and n-butanol mixture as reactants (in stoichiometric proportion n-butanol/O-2) to generate butyraldehyde. For n-butanol partial oxidation, the ruthenium catalysts showed higher activity and stability than the copper ones. The n-butanol conversion was almost similar for all the ruthenium catalysts, but the different supports modified the metal dispersion and, as a result, the product distribution was modified. The catalysts supported on ZrO2 and CeO2 allowed the highest butyraldehyde yields. The copper doping of the ruthenium catalyst also improved the selectivity toward butyraldehyde.