Chemical evolution of micro/mesoporous ordered carbons containing nitrogen, oxygen and phosphorus surface functionalities was investigated by XPS. Nanocasting was selected as synthetic route: SBA-15 mesoporous silica was the solid template, 3-aminobenzoic acid was used as carbon, nitrogen and oxygen precursor, and phosphoric acid was selected to achieve doping with phosphorus. The evolution of the surface chemistry as a function of phosphoric acid concentration and carbonization temperature was studied, and carbons with a wide range of type and number of surface functional groups were identified. Thus, we show an easy way to successfully design ordered carbons exhibiting a specific surface composition by selecting certain experimental conditions. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.