Porous copper oxide nanostructures were synthesized by thermal decomposition of copper hydroxide acetate precursor. The precursor synthesized by a facile solution phase method presents a flower-like configuration, assembled from plate-like structures. CuO with porous features were obtained via thermal decomposition of the precursor, but morphology remains unchanged after the conversion. Under laser light irradiation, copper hydroxide acetate displays a phase transition to CuO as observed by the power dependent Raman spectroscopy. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.