Earth abundant materials, Mo and Co, are used to decorate TiO2 and work as co-catalyst for the selective semi-hydrogenation of alkynes and isomerization of estragole in a H-2-free environment under UVA irradiation. Catalytic efficiency is higher than highly-reactive Pd-decorated TiO2, using lower metal loadings and showing better selectivity towards the semi-hydrogenation reaction. (C) 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.