Reactive fluid media enclosed in a cavity with a catalytic surface are analyzed. Nonisothermal chemical reactions on this surface can lead to convective instabilities. A simplified model is developed by using a low-order truncation of a Fourier-type expansion and employing the Galerkin method. A linear stability analysis is presented and it is shown that, under certain conditions, the marginal curve for the onset of oscillatory instabilities can lie below that for monotonic ones. The stability of the convective modes is studied by nonlinear stability analysis and it is shown how they can evolve into periodic and nonperiodic motion patterns. Numerical results are provided to support and confirm analytical predictions.