Saturated hydrocarbons, alkanes, are known to exhibit very low reactivity with a variety of reagents, and in many cases the yields of the products are low. The oxidation of higher hydrocarbons in the presence of activated charcoal and silica gel to enhance the oxidative ozonation of higher aliphatic hydrocarbon n-hexadecane, n-tetradecane and n-dodecane is investigated. An effective oxidative ozonation is observed at room temperature (20 +/- 1 degrees C) and normal pressure conditions. The major reaction products formed are 4-, 3- and 2-hexadecanones. The catalytic activity of activated charcoal and silica gel are compared with uncatalyzed reactions.