The chitosan-supported mu-oxo dimeric iron tetrapherylporphyrin ((TPPFeIII)(2)O/CTS) was prepared and its ability to catalyze aerobic oxidation of cyclohexane into the corresponding ketone and alcohol in the absence of any co-reductants and solvents was investigated. Under the optimum reaction conditions of 398 K and 0.6 MPa, the heterogeneous catalytic system gave about 90% selectivity of ketone and alcohol at 13.0% yield and a catalyst turnover number of 1.03 x 10(5). The supported catalyst can be efficiently reused at least six times. The changes in various catalytic parameters with reaction temperature, pressure and the amount of catalyst were investigated. Compared with the corresponding unsupported catalyst, (TPPFeIII)(2)O/CTS was more robust towards destruction by oxygen and provided better catalysis for cyclohexane oxidation. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.