Hydrothermal derived boehmite nano-particles (BNPs), with high surface area and high degree of surface hydroxyl groups, were covalently functionalized with 3-(tri-methoxysilyl) propylchloride or 3-(trimethoxysilyl) propylamine and then the terminal chlorine groups were changed by refluxing with ethylenediamine or imidazole. Then all the functionalized boehmite nano-particles were used to support bis-acetylacetonato-oxo vanadium or bis-acetylacetonato-di-oxo molybdenum complexes. These supported catalysts were characterized by FT-IR, CHN, ICP and TEM analysis. Then these catalysts were applied in the epoxidation of cis-cyclooctene, and the catalytic procedures were optimized for different parameters such as the solvent and oxidant. The reactions progress was investigated by gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) analysis. The optimized conditions were found as 0.5 mmol cis-cyclooctene and 1.0 mmol tert-butylhydroperoxide (TBHP) in 0.5-1 mL CCI4 with 20 mg catalyst at reflux temperature. Recycling experiments revealed that these heterogeneous nano-catalysts could be repeatedly applied for the epoxidation of cis-cyclooctene. The optimized conditions were also used for the epoxidation of some other substituted alkenes successfully. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.