Alumina gels can be made by spontaneous gelation of alkoxides in organic solvents, their hydrolysis rate can be controlled by chelating agents and the wet gels obtained can be transformed to aerogels by supercritical drying. The present study reports on such alumina aerogels made from aluminum tri-sec-butoxide in organic solvent and complexed with ethylacetoacetate at high temperature (approximate to 260 degrees C) in methanol. The aerogels were studied by X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption, infra-red spectroscopy and Al-27 nuclear magnetic resonance. The results show that both the chemical complexation and drying methods can significantly affect the texture and structure of these gels.