A series of CuCr catalysts were prepared by co-precipitation method and used to produce acetic acid from ethanol via dehydrogenation-(aldehyde-water shift) reaction. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis (BET), inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), and temperature programmed reduction (TPR). The effects of copper contents and atmosphere on catalytic performance were investigated. The enhanced catalytic performance can be ascribed to the existence of chromium oxide.