Methanol synthesis from syngas could be carried out in steel monoliths coated with CuO/ZnO/Al(2)O(3) catalysts. The Cu-based coatings were prepared using different techniques: slurry coating of CuO/ZnO/Al(2)O(3) obtained via 2-stage co-precipitation, sol-gel coating of Al(2)O(3) followed by Cu-Zn impregnation, colloid coating of Al(2)O(3) followed by Cu-Zn impregnation, and colloid coating of Al(2)O(3) followed by deposition-precipitation of Cu-Zn. The coated monoliths were characterized (XRD, BET, N(2)O titration) and studied in the methanol synthesis reaction at 80 bar. Comparison was made to similarly prepared powder catalysts subjected to characterization and laboratory scale fixed bed reactor (FBR) experiments. Monoliths with high activity for the methanol synthesis reaction were obtained with slurry coating of CuO/ZnO/Al(2)O(3). whereas the impregnation and deposition-precipitation methods gave insufficient Cu dispersion. Higher activity of the monolith relative to FBR experiments with the same catalyst was ascribed to the thermal properties of the steel monolith. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.