The influence of the precursors on the promoting effect of ceria on Pd/Al 2 O 3 catalyst, when ceria is coated over alumina was studied. The reaction of propane oxidation proceeded under different feed conditions and the surface active sites were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and in situ diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS).XPS and DRS results show that PdO/Pd 0 interface are the active sites independent of the precursor, while the catalysts containing CeO 2 showed formation of palladium species in the highest oxidation state, probably PdO 2 (338 eV) after the oxidation of propane. Besides, the O/Al and O/Ce ratios evidenced the increase of oxygen storage in the presence of CeO 2 . In addition, the precursor acetylacetonate favors the oxygen storage in the lattice.