A comparison is made between the activities and selectivities of several native manganese oxides (MnO, Mn3O4, Mn2O3, MnO2, Cu-MnO2) for carbon monoxide reduction. At 310 degrees C, and 500 psi on feeding synthesis gas (CO/H-2 = 1/1), the carbon monoxide conversion levels are comparable but selectivities are quite different. Mn2O3 displays over 90% selectivity for methanol while MnO displays less than 10% selectivity for methanol but over 50% selectivity for carbon dioxide. Patterns of activity and selectivity are discussed for each of the precursors. interestingly, despite the quite varied selectivities at comparable conversion levels, X-ray diffraction on the used catalysts indicates that each has been converted to MnO in the bulk as would be expected from thermodynamics.