This work reports that the cyclohexane oxidation by iodosylbenzene and iodobenzene diacetate yields cyclohexanol as the sole product if catalyzed by the simple Mn(III) aminophenylporphyrins 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(2-aminophenyl)porphyrinatomanganese(III) chloride (Mn(III)(T2APP)Cl) and 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-aminophenyl)porphyrinatomanganese(III) chloride (Mn(III)(T4APP)Cl). This high selectivity was unmatched by other simple phenyl-substituted Mn(III) meso-tetraphenylporphyin-based catalysts (Mn(III)(T-X-PP)Cl, where X = H, 4-OMe, 4-Me, 4-CO2Me, 2-Me), which led to a mixture of both cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone. The absence of cyclohexanone in the Mn(III)(T2APP)Cl and Mn(III)(T4APP)Cl as well as the possibility of re-use of the catalysts was investigated. An intermolecular coordination of the amino moieties in Mn(III)(T2APP)Cl and Mn(III)(T4APP)Cl is suggested to play a role in the high selectivity of these systems. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.