The pure phases of alkaline earth molybdates MMoO4, where M=Mg, Ca, Sr or Ba, were synthesized via the calcination of the related citrato oxomolybdate complexes. The mixed metal oxides can be highly dispersed at the atomic level due to the existence of uniform citrato oxomolybdenum precursors in definite composition. The complexing effect helps to produce the fine-grained oxides with particle size in the ultrafine scale(