We report the synthesis of pillared clays from natural Mexican bentonites and pillared solutions as a support for Cu and Fe3+ catalyst. The study shows a favorable cationic exchange capacity on the clays. This is observed with a change of the specific areas: from 66 m(2)/g for the natural clay to 202 m(2)/g for the pillared clay. The molar relation of 4.91 for the Si/Al structure in the natural clay and 3.72 for the pillared clay shows the entrance of aluminum as pillaring ion. We were able to increase the microporosity on the catalytic material observed through a porous volume variation (0.1-0.8cm(3)/g) at different Fe3+ concentrations. We obtained an increase on the specific area of more than 200% over the natural clay. Published by Elsevier B.V.