Two K/Mn-MgO supported catalysts were prepared by Fe(CO) 5 and Fe(NO 3 ) 3 as precursor respectively. The obtained Fe-K/Mn-MgO catalysts were tested for CO hydrogenation to light alkenes and characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), H 2 temperature-programmed reduction (H 2 -TPR), H 2 , CO and CO 2 temperature-programmed desorption (H 2 , CO/CO 2 -TPD) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The results indicated that the catalyst with 10 wt% Fe loading prepared by Fe(CO) 5 as precursor showed better performance in syngas to light alkenes than ones obtained from Fe(NO 3 ) 3 as precursor, where the CO conversion was 62.50% and the selectivity was 55.95% at 350 ℃, 1.5 MPa and 1000 h −1 , respectively.