The aerobic oxidative cleavage of 1,2-diols using aheterogeneous catalyst only based on earth-abundant metals manganese and sodium is reported for the first time.T his reusable catalyst cleaves av ariety of substrates into aldehydes or ketones with high selectivity.T he reaction requires small catalytic loadings and is performed under mild conditions using ambient pressure O 2 or air as the oxidant while producing water as the only by-product. Mechanistic investigations reveal am onodentate,t wo-electron oxidative fragmentation process involving aM n IV species.T he eco-friendly, innocuous catalyst is compatible with aw ide range of functional groups and conditions,making it highly competitive with classical reagents,such as periodic acid or lead tetraacetate,as apreferred method for activated 1,2-diols.