Selective aerobic oxidation of thiols to disulfides without any over oxidized products is studied usingcryptomelane type manganese oxides (K-OMS-2) with a tunnel structure as catalysts. Using K-OMS-2prepared by different synthetic procedures, complete conversion was obtained under air atmospherewithout generating any overoxidized products. K-OMS-2 prepared by solvent free method (K-OMS-2SF)with the highest surface area (155 ± 1 m2/g) gave complete conversion, while materials prepared usinghydrothermal method (K-OMS-2HY) with the lowest surface area (44 ± 1 m2/g) gave only 18% conversionat room temperature. Selective poisoning of the acid sites suggests that Lewis acid sites are the dominatingactive site during the reaction. Effects of surface area of the catalyst, solvent polarity, substrate effect,catalyst recyclability and temperature were studied. The catalyst could be recovered in the active formafter the reaction without significant structural changes. The characterization of the catalyst using XRD,SEM, TGA, BET, TEM, and FT-IR are reported. The process developed is environmentally benign and isindeed heterogeneous.