Six copper(II) and lead(II) salts of p-nitrocalix[n]arene (n=4, 6, 8) were synthsized and characterized. The DSC curves of all salts showed exothermic decomposition. Sensitivity studies revealed that all the salts with the exception of the lead salt of p-nitrocalix[6] arene (NCPb6) are relatively insensitive materials. Investigations of the catalytic activities showed that most of the salts displayed high activities in thermal decomposition of NC-NG and RDX. As evaluated in this work, the salts enhanced the burning rates of both double base (DB) and RDX-component modified double base propellants. The best catalytic effect was obtained with NCPb6, which increased the burning rate of the DB propellant to the order of about 200% (2-6 MPa) and 103-198% (8-20 MPa) while decreasing the pressure index (n) to 0.22 (20-22 MPa).