This work aims to report the effects of loading the cobalt oxide with noble metals in toluene oxidation. Cobalt oxide is obtained through a nanocasting route using a siliceous SBA-15 mesoporous material as a hard template where 1 Au and/or 1% Pd were deposited on cobalt oxide. Samples were characterized by means: Inductively Coupled Plasma, temperature programmed reduction (H2-TPR), X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption–desorption measurements, transmission electron microscopy and differential thermal analysis. The activities of all synthesized catalysts have been evaluated in the total oxidation of toluene where we have obtained as products only CO2 and H2O at low temperature. The activities are in the following order: Pd-Au/Co3O4 > Co3O4 > Pd/ Co3O4 > Au-Pd/ Co3O4 > Au/ Co3O4, where the excellent catalytic activities showed by the Pd-Au/ Co3O4 catalyst could be attributed to the synergy effect between Pd and Au correlated to core–shell structure in which palladium is dispersed over gold.