A series of nickel-copper-molybdenum catalyst precursors was synthesized through chemical precipitation method, and highly loaded catalysts were prepared by mixing the precursors with alumina sol. The nickel-copper-molybdenum catalysts were tested in the hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of the model compound 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene (4,6-DMDBT) and fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) diesel. The catalysts were characterized by means of N-2-physisorption, XRD, FT-IR, SEM, TG-DSC-MS, TPR and HRTEM. The characterizations results indicated that nickel-copper-molybdenum catalyst precursors could be synthesized due to the similarities of the lattice parameters and ionic radii of nickel and copper, and the HRTEM micrographs and XRD results of the sulfided nickel-copper-molybdenum catalysts revealed that the introduction of copper affected the particle sizes of the stacked MoS2 and sulfided nickelcontaining compounds. The catalytic results showed that the Ni9.5Cu0.5Mo10 catalyst exhibited high catalytic activity in the HDS of 4,6-DMDBT and FCC diesel, and might be suitable for the production of ultra-low sulfur diesel. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.