The oxidation of methylarenes to the corresponding arylaldehydes has been successfully achieved in the presence of a mild catalytic system (Br-2/DMSO) under a simple operational and experimental procedure. The procedure is chemoselective on the toluene family of derivatives containing other alkyl groups and can be performed for a broad scope of methylarenes. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.