In the current paper, Mo doped Ni-ZrO2 catalyst was prepared, which was used for the liquid hydrocarbon from conversion of octanoic acid via hydrodeoxygenation (HDO). The experimental results showed that the reaction product is mainly C-8 alkane with a yield of 77.07% when 10Mo/Ni-ZrO2 was used as the catalyst compared with the major product of C-7 alkane over Ni-ZrO2 catalyst with a yield of 69.68%. The introduction of Mo into the Ni-ZrO2 channel generated in Mo/Ni-ZrO2 samples was characterized by nitrogen sorption, TEM, XRD, TPR, and TPD. The results demonstrated that the doping Mo particles to the Ni-ZrO2 catalyst resulted in the transformation of ZrO2 support from cubic form (c-ZrO2) to monoclinic form (m-ZrO2), and the improvement of the hydrogen adsorption capacity and acid property of the catalyst. Thus, the doping of Mo favored the dehydration-hydrogenation reactions of octanol intermediate which in turn facilitated octanoic acid HDO to C-8 alkane. Therefore, a novel approach to octanoic acid HDO to C-8 alkane is introduced, which provides a basis as well as technical parameters for its further industrialization. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.