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We have investigated the synthesis and application of Au-Cu/CeO₂ (Cu: Au = 2) in the continuous gas phase (<i>P =</i> 1 atm; <i>T</i> = 498 K) coupled hydrogenation of 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (HMF) with 2-butanol dehydrogenation. STEM-EDX analysis revealed a close surface proximity of both metals in Au-Cu/CeO₂ <i>post</i>-TPR. XPS measurements suggest (support &#8594; metal) charge transfer to form Au<i>^&#948;</i>^&#8722; and strong metal-support interactions to generate Cu⁰ and Cu⁺. Au-Cu/CeO₂ promoted the sole formation of 2,5-dihydroxymethylfuran (DHMF) and 2-butanone in the HMF/2-butanol coupling with full hydrogen utilisation. Under the same reaction conditions, Au/CeO₂ was fully selective to DHMF in standard HMF hydrogenation (using an external hydrogen supply), but delivered a lower production rate and utilised less than 0.2% of the hydrogen supplied. Exclusive -C=O hydrogenation and -OH dehydrogenation is also demonstrated for the coupling of a series of <i>m-</i>substituted (-CH₃, -CH₂CH₃, -CH₂OH, -CF₃, -N(CH₃)₂, -H) furaldehydes with alcohol (1-propanol, 1-butanol, 2-propanol, 2-butanol, cyclohexanol) dehydrogenation over Au-Cu/CeO₂, consistent with a nucleophilic mechanism. In each case, we observed a greater hydrogenation rate and hydrogen utilisation efficiency with a 3&#8315;15 times lower E-factor in the coupling process relative to standard hydrogenation. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of using hydrogen generated in situ through alcohol dehydrogenation for the selective hydrogenation of <i>m-</i>furaldehydes with important industrial applications.