The two novel manganese( II ) complexes with 2-hydroxymethylpyridine (2-CH 2 OHpy) {[Mn 2 ( μ -Cl) 2

(2-CH 2 OHpy) 4 ]Cl 2 ·2H 2 O( 1 )} and 2-hydroxyethylpyridine (2-(CH 2 ) 2 OHpy) {Mn(2-(CH 2 ) 2 OHpy) 2 (NCS) 2 } were synthesized and characterized by means of X-ray di ff raction, IR, EPR, HF EPR spectroscopy, mag- netic and TG/DTG data. The complexes show catalase-like activity in neutral aqueous solution since they were able to disproportionate H_{2}O_{2} to harmless H_{2}O and O_{2} . Both complexes act as true catalysts since they reverted to their original form after depleting all the H_{2}O_{2} , as suggested by the operando resonant inelastic X-ray spectroscopy (RIXS) measurements.