Catalysts used for high-temperature combustion of light hydrocarbons must maintain high activity over long time intervals by avoiding excessive sintering and deactivation in the hot and corrosive combustion environment. The sintering resistance and chemical stability of catalytically active phases is a key technical problem that must be solved for the development of commercially viable combustion catalysts. All noble metals and transition metal oxides that are catalytically active rapidly sinter at temperatures required for high combustion rates. Advanced materials used in the development of stable catalysts include highly sintering-resistant hexaaluminate supports far dispersion of noble metals, chemically and thermally stable supporting oxides for active transition metal oxides, and single-phase, substitutionally activated, sintering-resistant complex metal oxides. This paper will review deactivating phenomena, such as sintering and vapor transport and assess recent progress in the development of durable combustion catalysts.