A key disadvantage of the bio-oils precursors of biodiesel is the high load of oxygenated compounds that reduce their heat of combustion, dropping their efficiency and making them unfeasible on a large scale. In light of that, the hydrodeoxygenation process (HDO) is relevant, since it eliminates these compounds through a catalytic reaction, thus increasing the calorific value of the fuel. In this work, the HDO of guaiacol (2-methoxyphenol) as a model compound of the bio-oils derived from biomass was studied and the performance of Ni-Mo catalysts was evaluated. A catalyst supported on SBA-15-a high surface area mesoporous silica material-was compared to a traditional gamma-alumina-supported catalyst. For this purpose, a continuous gas phase setup with fixed bed reactor was employed. The catalysts properties were identified by N2 adsorption, SEM, TEM, XRD, H2-TPR, FTIR, O2-TPO, Raman and TGA techniques. Through XRD and TEM, it was verified that smaller and more dispersed NiO and MoO3 particles were formed in the case of the SBA-15 catalyst, due to the lower interaction with the support and the greater surface area, which resulted in a degree of reduction of 91.6% for this catalyst, as opposed to 73.4% for the other one, both analyzed by H2-TPR. The catalytic tests showed that the NiMo/SBA-15 outperforms the alumina catalyst in terms of conversion in the range of 200 to 300 °C, with cyclohexene and cyclohexane as main products, in contrast with major selectivity to catechol and phenol on NiMo/γ-Al2O3. At 300 °C, the silica-supported catalyst achieved rates of 66.5% for HDO and 35.3% for HDA (hydrodearomatization), whereas alumina reached only 30.8 and 2.7%, respectively. Finally, it was shown that the SBA-15 catalyst had a coke deactivation rate of 1.14 mgcoke gcat-1 h-1 , 31% lower than the alumina catalyst, whose coke deposits consisted of well-structured irreversible graphitic carbon. In view of the results, this dissertation proposes the routes and reaction mechanisms of guaiacol on the studied catalysts, knowledge that is pertinent for the development and improvement of future HDO catalysts.