Pure and silica-dispersed Nb-V, V-Sb and Nb-V-M (M = Sb, Mo) oxide systems were prepared by applying the less conventional sol-gel methods and tested as catalysts in the oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of propane. All the prepared systems were active in the propane ODH and selective to propene, particularly the 1:1:5 Nb-V-Si prepared via the non-hydrolytic sol-el method and the 1:1 Sb-V prepared via the hydrolytic route. Acrolein was detected among the reaction products when working with higher reagents partial pressures and contact time. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.