3-(2-Hydroxy-4-nitrophenylhydrazo)pentane-2,4-dione (H2L, 1)was synthesized by azocoupling of diazonium salts of 2-hydroxy-4-nitroaniline with pentane-2,4-dione and shown to exist in the hydrazone tautomeric form in the free state and in its new dicopper(II)complex [Cu-2(H2O)(2)(mu-L)(2)] (2) whose X-ray crystal structure was determined. Complex 2 acts as a catalyst, under mild conditions, for the peroxidative oxidation (with H2O2) of cyclohexane to cyclohexanol, cyclohexanone and cyclohexyl hydroperoxide, in MeCN/H2O, and for the aerobic TEMPO-mediated selective oxidation of benzylic alcohols to the corresponding aldehydes, thus showing that azoderivatives of beta-diketones can be the suitable ligands for such types of reactions. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.