We are describing herein a new environmentally friendly catalytic system able to convert cyclohexane to chlorocyclohexane with 100% selectivity. The method was also applied to the chlorination of n-hexane and adamantane. The catalytic system employs thichloroisocyanuric acid (TCCA) as halogenating agent and a mononuclear copper(II) complex [Cu(BPAH)(H2O)] (ClO4)(2), 1, as catalyst (BPAH = 1,4-bis(propanamide) homopiperazine), whose molecular structure was solved by monocrystal X-ray diffraction. For cyclohexane, at a ratio catalyst:substrate:TCCA of 1:1000:333, the system reached a conversion of 32.0 +/- 1% at 25 degrees C and 44.7 +/- 0.4% at 50 degrees C, with 100% selectivity for chlorocyclohexane. With n-hexane, a similar conversion was observed at 50 degrees C, resulting in mixture of monochlorides. Employing adamantane as substrate, the isomers 1-chloroadamantane and 2-chloroadamante were preferentially formed, together with traces of dichloroadamantane. EPR and ESI-(+)-MS analyses indicate the formation of a Cu-hypochlorite intermediate species, which is supported by theoretical calculations.