Heterometal alkoxides are used as single-source precursors to obtain nanoscaled thin layers and powders of a variety of oxide ceramics and composites. The hydride alkoxide [MgH 2 Al(OBu') 2 2 ] has been used for low-temperature deposits of crystalline MgAl 2 O 4 spinel. The mixed-metal alkoxide [BaZr(OPr i ) 5 (OH)(Pr i OH) 3 ] 2 , based on 1:1 stoichiometry of the metals, has been used for clean and selective synthesis (sol-gel) of nanocrystalline BaZrO 3 ceramic. Using heterometal alkoxide [Ni 2 Sn 2 (OBu t ) 8 ] in a CVD process gave a binary intermetallic compound (Ni 3 Sn 4 ) in an oxide matrix (SnO 2 ). The composite system Ni/Al 2 O 3 obtained on reducing NiO with [H 2 Al(OBu t )] 2 shows remarkably high catalytic activity in hydrogenation of C-C double bonds. Thin layers of a composite containing nano-sized Ni/Al 2 O 3 have been deposited using [NiAl(OPr i ) 4 2 ] in a CVD process.