Highly ordered VSBA-15 mesoporous catalysts have been synthesized under pH-adjusting direct hydrothermal (pH-aDH) method using vanadyl sulphate hydrate and Pluronic P123 as the sources of vanadium and template, respectively. The mesoporous catalysts characterized by sophisticated instrumental techniques, viz. ICP-AES, XRD, N-2 adsorption, ESR, UV-vis DRS, V-51 MAS NMR, Si-29 MAS NMR and TEM show their two-dimensional mesostructures with tetrahedral vanadium species on the silica surface. The well ordered VSBA-15 catalysts have been used in the oxidation of cyclododecane (CDD) with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2, 30%) to find their catalytic activities. The regenerated VSBA-15 catalysts have been examined to find their catalytic stabilities. VSBA-15(5) catalyst has been washed with ammonium acetate solution to investigate the leaching of vanadium species in the framework of silica network of SBA-15, and the catalytic activity of washed VSBA-15(5) has also been examined in the catalytic reactions. Moreover, the hydrothermally stable VSBA-15(5) catalyst has also been examined in the catalytic reaction to find the effect of its catalytic activity. Additionally, the influences of various reaction parameters such as temperature, time, ratios of reactant and solvents on the oxidation of CDD have been investigated. Based on the catalytic results, VSBA-15(5) catalyst is found to be a highly active, recyclable and promising heterogeneous catalyst for selective synthesis of cyclododecanone (CDD=O). (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.