In this paper we report the preparation of an organized mesoporous Pd-Zn/alumina system, by a new surfactant-assisted single-step sol-gel synthesis, performed in alcohol, using stearic acid as a chemical template, aluminum sec-butoxide as Al source and metal stearates both as Pd-Zn sources and as structural directing agents. The prepared materials have been characterized using a variety of techniques such as thermogravimetric analysis, atomic absorption spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction and N-2 adsorption-desorption, and preliminarily tested in the oxidative steam reforming of methanol (OSRM) in the temperature range 100-400 degrees C. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.