The effects of the Cr concentration in hydrothermally synthesized Cr-MCM-41 and the impact of various postsynthesis treatments including grafting with alumina were investigated. Using physicochemical characterization by XRD, diffuse reflectance UV-vis spectroscopy, EPR spectroscopy, 29 Si MAS NMR spectroscopy, H 2 TPR, and acidity measurements, formation of mono-and dichromate surface species as well as Cr V , dispersed Cr III , and clustered Cr III was detected, confirming the high speciation and valence versatility of the surface chromium. The roles of each species in the preparation stage, calcination, leaching, and grafting are discussed. Leaching resulted in removal of all isolated Cr III species, suggesting that Cr III is attached to the MCM-41 surface via silanol groups. The resulting materials exhibited low acidity, with both Lewis and Brønsted acid sites being present. The oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of cyclohexane was catalyzed by Cr-MCM-41 with a conversion of up to 25.7% in the temperature range of 533-633 K. The Cr III sites have been concluded to be responsible for cyclohexane ODH, but total activity was influenced by the presence of easily reducible Cr VI at the beginning of the reaction. During the reaction, high-valence Cr ions were reduced to clustered Cr 2 O 3 species.