This paper presents a short review related to the chemistry of Ru-edta complexes that exhibit catalytic properties in the presence of oxygen atom donors under homogeneous conditions that mimic biological enzymatic hydrocarbon oxidation by cytochrome P450. The results of our recently published work are reviewed in this paper. The mechanism of the reaction of [Ru-III(edta)(H2O)](-) with different oxygen atom donors leading to the formation of various catalytic active species, viz. [Ru-III(edta)(OOH)](2-), [Ru-IV(edta)(OH)](-) and [Ru-V(edta)(O)](-), along with their spectral characteristics, are analyzed. Details of the reaction mechanisms have been revealed for peroxide, -O-O- bond activation involving the Ru-edta complex. Furthermore, various mechanistic aspects of the oxidation of organic substrate catalyzed by the Ru-edta complexes are also covered in this report. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.