A simple one-step hydrothermal reaction was employed to synthesize the molybdenum arsenate crystallite catalyst, [{Cu(imi)(2)}(3)As3Mo3MO3O15]center dot H2O (1) (imi = imidazole). The catalyst was characterized using X-ray crystallographic analyses, FT-IR, TGA, XRD, ICP-AES, NH3-TPD and BET techniques. Moreover, we performed evaluation on its catalytic activity towards the hydrolysis of ethylene carbonate to produce ethylene glycol. Interestingly, the conversion of this reaction reaches 96.5% and the selectivity is close to 100% at optimum conditions. No polyoxometalate leaching or framework decomposition was observed and the catalyst can be recovered and reused with slight loss of reactivity under identical reaction conditions. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.