Destructive tests of the catalyst was carried out to study the effect of temperature on the catalytic activity of CO coupling to diethyl oxalate (DEO) over a Pd-Fe/Al2O3 catalyst. It was found that a temperature jump could cause the deactivation of the Pd-Fe/α-Al2O3 catalyst. The catalyst deactivated at different temperatures has different characteristics. After deactivation the crystal structure of α-Al2O3 did not change, but the Pd particle size was enlarged. Most of the Pd0 were oxidized to Pd2+, and Fe2+ was oxidized to Fe3+ on the surface of the deactivated catalyst. The catalyst could be regenerated, but its original activity could not be recovered completely.