Abstract: A novel template-free co-precipitation method was applied to synthesize mesoporous copper-manganese mixed oxides with high surface area, which can be obtained in large quantities. Catalytic activity of copper-manganese mixed oxides (Cu-Mn-x, x=1, 2, 4) has been studied in selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol using molecular oxygen as oxidizing agent and toluene as solvent. The catalysts exhibited highest activity, in which 90% conversion of the benzyl alcohol was achieved with 98% selectivity to benzaldehyde within a short reaction period only in 20 min at 102℃, when the design mole ratio of Cu/Mn was 1:2. The physicochemical properties of the catalysts were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, BET, H2-TPR and EDS techniques. It shows that Cu and Mn can improve the catalytic performance each other effectively but there must be an appropriate mole ratio of Cu/Mn. In addition, there is a great relationship between the activity and the amount of catalysts, which shows that the higher activity the more catalysts.