Copper oxide and niobium pentoxide were supported on silica-alumina with 2, 5, 10, 15 and 25 mass% loadings and 1:1 mass ratio of CuO:Nb 2 O 5 . XRD and BET measurements confirmed that monolayer coverage is reached with loadings between 5-10 mass% (~308 m 2 g -1 ). The DRIFTS spectra of pyridine adsorbed catalysts showed bands associated with Brönsted, Lewis and a combination of both acidic sites. Thermal analysis and liquid phase microcalorimetry provided the parameters for the best catalyst (10 mass%), which has the highest number of acidic sites (0.38 mmol g -1 ) and enthalpies of interaction with pyridine for Brönsted and Lewis sites (DH 1 = -107.5 and DH 2 = -64.4 kJ mol -1 , respectively).