The polymer supported Mn(II) Schiff base complexes were prepared from crosslinked chloromethylated poly(styrene-divinyl benzene) copolymer beads by sequential modification into a Schiff base bearing ligand. These Schiff base bearing polymer on treatment with a solution of MnCl2.2H(2)O gave the corresponding metal complexes. The polymer supported Mn(II) complexes were characterised by elemental analysis, FT-IR, diffuse reflectance, SEM and thermogravimetric analysis. Physicochemical properties such as surface area, bulk density and swelling behaviour in different solvents were studied. The catalytic activity of the supported metal complexes were studied in the epoxidation of norbornene and cis-cyclooctene using tert-butylhydroperoxide (TBHP) as the terminal oxidant. The influence of various reaction parameters such as temperature, solvent, substrate and catalyst concentration, on conversion and selectivity has been studied. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.