TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Component: The catalyst further contains rhenium on the mixed metal oxide with the noble metal. The noble metal is platinum. The rhenium is in an amount of 0.5-6.0 wt.% of the mixed metal oxide with the platinum. The catalyst comprises a highly dispersed metal, including at least the noble metal, loaded on the mixed metal oxide and having a concentration of 0.1-6.0 wt.%. The noble metal has crystallites that are predominantly less than 2.5 nm. The catalyst may comprise rhenium and the noble metal loaded on to a ceria-based mixed metal oxide.Preferred Process: The mixed metal oxide is prepared by a process including dissolving urea and salts of cerium and the other constituent in water to form a dilute metal salt solution; heating the solution to near boiling and coprecipitating homogeneously an oxide of the cerium and the other constituent as a nanocrystalline coprecipitate; replacing water existing in the coprecipitate with a water miscible, low surface-tension solvent that displaces water; drying the coprecipitate to remove all of any remaining water and the solvent; and calcining the dried coprecipitate at a moderate temperature for an interval adequate to remove adsorbed impurities. The rhenium on the mixed metal oxide with the noble metal is passivated. The contacting step includes heating the mixed metal oxide in an acid-containing solution of ethanol and the acid at a mild temperature of 50degreesC for 2 hours, and rinsing the mixed metal oxide with ethanol until the pH is greater than 4. The loading step includes submerging the mixed metal oxide in a solution of tetraamineplatinum nitrate having 1 wt.% platinum, 1 wt.% ammonia hydroxide and 15 wt.% 2-propanol for 2 hours at room temperature to metal load the mixed metal oxide; and filtering and drying the metal loaded mixed metal oxide. Preparation further includes calcining the metal loaded mixed metal oxide for up to 4 hours at a heating rate of 2degreesC/hour to a calcining temperature of 250-600degreesC. Preparation includes the additional preliminary steps of selecting the acid from group of acids; titrating a sample solution containing the mixed metal oxide with a titrant solution containing a known concentration of the acid until an equivalence point is determined at which the pH remains unchanged with the further addition of the titrant solution; and selecting the amount of acid in the surface treating solution as a function of the quantity of the mixed metal oxide and of the equivalence point determined by the titrating step.Preferred Parameter: The calcining temperature to which the metal-loaded mixed metal oxide is heated is 400-500degreesC.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Component: The acid for surface treating the mixed metal oxide is malic acid or citric acid. The solution is tetraamineplatinum nitrate. EXAMPLE - A Ce0.65Zr0.35O2 catalyst support (Sample UR27) was prepared by dissolving ammonium-cerium nitrate ((NH4)2Ce(NO3)6) (26.7 g), ZrO(NO3)2.xH2O (7.2 g) and urea (576 g) in deionized water (4800 ml). The solution was heated to its boiling temperature while stirring until coprecipitation was observed. The mixture was then aged at boiling temperature for 7 hours and then was left stirring at room temperature for 16 hours. The mixture was filtered using a funnel. The resulting filter cake was washed twice with deionized water (500 ml) at boiling temperature while stirring for 10 minutes, and then filtered again after each washing step. Then, the filter cake was washed three times with dried 2-propanol (100 ml) while in the funnel. Then, if necessary, the precipitate was mixed with dried 2-propanol (400 ml), heated to reflux for 45 minutes, and then filtered again before being extruded, as through a syringe. The extrudates were dried in a vacuum oven at 70degreesC for 3 hours and then left in the oven at 70degreesC (overnight) for 16 hours without vacuum. The extrudates were then calcined at 500degreesC for 4 hours with a heating rate of 2degreesC/minute, thus producing a ceria-zirconia nanocrystalline support material. After calcination at 500degreesC, the surface area of the support was 180 m2/g and had an average crystallite size of 34.1 Angstrom (3.41 nm). The pore volume was 0.25 cm3/g and the average pore diameter was 55 Angstrom (5.5 nm). Another support (Sample UR17) prepared with the same parameters had a surface area of 187 m2/g and an average crystallite size of 32.3 Angstrom (3.23 nm).