A brief review on the advances and future aspects in the low-temperature activation of carbon-hydrogen and carbon-carbon bonds in hydrocarbons is presented. Particular attention is given to a catalyst formulation for low-temperature conversion of hydrocarbons. An efficient catalyst design method for low-temperature activation of saturated hydrocarbons has been worked out using metal evaporation techniques. The characteristic property of such catalysts is the presence of metal particles on the surface in an atomically dispersed state. Some of the prepared catalysts cause complete hydrocracking of alkanes and cycloalkanes at 423-463K.