Mo-V-Nb tri-component oxide catalysts were prepared and firstly used for the selective oxidation of Cα-OH lignin compounds.The catalytic performance of the composite oxides was obviously enhanced due to the synergistic effects of Mo and V elements.MOs-xVxO14 phase with a variable MoN ratio provided suitable active sites for the oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of Cα-OH lignin model compound.The optimized Mo-V-Nb molar composition was confirmed as Mo0.61V0.31 Nb0.08Ox/TiO2,which exhibited the prominent catalytic activity with the tover frequency of 1.04x10-3 mmol·g(cat)-1·s-1.Even at room temperature,the catalysts showed highly-efficient ODH reaction activities.The active phase for selective oxidation reaction and the inhibiting effect of α-MoO3 phase were also discussed in the study.