A series of heterogeneous catalysts with Lewis and Bronsted basic sites, and acid-base bifunctional pairs has been used in order to perform organic reactions. By changing the chemical composition and activation conditions it is possible to have predominantly Lewis or Bronsted base catalysts within a large range of well defined basicities. This allows to select the most appropriate catalyst for a specific reaction. Thus, MgO, calcined hydrotalcites, rehydrated hydrotalcites and grafted quaternary organic ammonium hydroxides on MCM-41, have been used as catalysts in Knoevenagel condensation, aldolization and Michael additions. Catalysts containing mild acid-base pairs such as those existing in amorphous aluminophosphates (ALPOs) allow to achieve high selectivities with still very reasonable activities. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.