Novel thermally stable mesoporous mixed metal Nb-M (M = V, Mo and Sb) oxides were synthesized in the presence of a nonionic Pluronic P123 surfactant. These oxides displayed promising pore structures and chemical compositions for selective oxidative functionalization of propane: high surface areas (up to 200 m(2)/g), large pore sizes (5-14 nm), and high pore volumes (up to 0.46 cm(3)/g). The oxidative dehydrogenation of propane to propylene over mesoporous mixed metal Nb-M oxides employed as a probe reaction suggested that the M component was dispersed as the molecular surface species and also formed a solid solution with NbOx in the inorganic walls of these mesoporous mixed metal oxides.