Catalytic synergism was observed for a bimetallic PdÀ Ir catalyst supported on activated carbon for chemoselective hydrogenation of 5-hydroxymetahyl furfural (5-HMF) to 2, 5-(bishydroxymethyl) furan (BHMF) with complete conversion and 97 % selectivity under very mild reaction conditions. The structural characterization like XRD, N 2 sorption, FE-SEM and TEM suggested formation of fine nanoparticles (1.95-3.08 nm) having very higher surface area, uniform distribution and mesoporous nature of the material. XPS spectra and Pyridine-IR spectroscopy revealed formation of Pd-PdO and Ir/IrO 2 /IrO 3 interface on the catalytic surface along with strong Brönsted acidic sites which were responsible for high efficiency of catalyst at 80 °C, 100 psig H 2 pressure at 5-HMF/Catalyst = 20 and within 2.5 h of reaction time. A plausible reaction mechanism is also elucidated based on structure activity correlation.