It has been recently shown that zinc compounds are effective catalysts for the oxidation of alkyl aryl sulfides to the corresponding sulfoxides in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. In this paper, we have investigated homogeneous and heterogeneous catalytic oxidation of sulfides by H(2)O(2) over Zn(NO(3))(2) x 6 H(2)O and the metal-organic porous material [Zn(2)(bdc)(L-lac)(dmf)] x DMF (where H(2)bdc = p-benzenedicarboxylic acid, H(2)lac = lactic acid), respectively. The experimental data can be explained by the proposed catalytic cycle which includes the activation of H(2)O(2) via coordination to Zn(II) ions followed by oxygen transfer step. In homogeneous conditions, the presence of a large amounts of H(2)O(2) results in the coordination of two molecules of hydrogen peroxide to Zn(II), so that sulfone is formed via transfer of two oxygen atoms from Zn(H(2)O)(4)(H(2)O(2))(2)(2+) active species. Contrary to the homogeneous system, the use of [Zn(2)(bdc)(L-lac)(dmf)] x DMF as catalyst does not lead to the formation of sulfone in the initial period of reaction. This is consistent with the proposed catalytic cycle of sulfoxidation as each Zn(II) center in the crystalline framework is able to activate only one H(2)O(2) molecule. Our investigations indicate that the sorption and activation of H(2)O(2) molecules by microporous framework [Zn(2)(bdc)(L-lac)(dmf)] occur faster than sulfide sorption and oxygen transfer.