Ship-in-a-bottle complexes of iron (III) and manganese (III) containing the ligand NN'-(salicylaldehyde)ethylenediamine (H(2)SALEN) were synthesized in zeolite Y (ship-in-a-bottle), and employed as catalysts in the cyclohexane oxidation reactions, using hydrogen peroxide (H2O2, 30% in water) or tert-butylhydroperoxide (TBHP, 70% in water). The complexes, [Fell(SALEN)Y] and [Mn-III. (SALEN)Y], where H(2)SALEN = N,N'-bis(salicylidene)- 1,2-phenylenediimine, were characterized by IR and Mossbauer spectroscopy, by N-2 BET analysis, X-ray powder diffraction, Xray fluorescence and elemental analysis. DFT (density functional theory) calculations show that the iron and manganese complexes occupy two cavities of the Y zeolite.) (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.