The main goal of this work was determination of the dependence of the physicochemical properties of Cu/support catalysts (ZnO, Al2O3, ZnAl2O4, ZnAlO2.5, Zn2AlO3.5) with their activity in methanol synthesis. The formation of spinel ZnAl2O4 structure during calcination process was proved by XRD technique. The mechanism of methanol synthesis was discussed. Activity tests show that the most active catalyst was system supported on binary oxide ZnAl2O4. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.