A lanthanum-containing polyoxometalate (POM) of DA(11)[La(PW11O39)(2)] (denoted as DA-La(PW11)(2); DA=Decyltrimethylammonium cation) is highly efficient and selective for oxidation of various substrates including alkenes, alkenols, sulfides, silane and alcohol with only one equiv. H2O2 as oxidant at 25 degrees C, and the POM catalyst can be easily recovered and reused for ten times without obvious decrease of catalytic activity and the yields for catalyst recovery are all above 95%. The epoxidation of cis-cyclooctene proceeds efficiently in 98% yield with only 0.08 mol% of DA-La(PW11)(2), and the turnover number (TON) can reach as high as 1200 at 25 degrees C. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.