The intactness and spatial proximity of acid and base groups in bifunctional mesoporous SBA-15 has been studied by various NMR techniques. The NMR results show that Bronsted acid and Lewis base groups coexist peacefully on the surface of the same support and maintain their acidity and basicity, respectively. Meanwhile, the acid groups and the base groups are in close proximity with suitable distance. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.