A new organo-inorganic hybrid material was prepared by immobilizing 3-(4-aminophenylamino)propane-l-sulfonic acid onto functionalized mesoporous MCM-41 via simple post-synthesis method. The hybrid organo MCM-41 preserved its hexagonal honey-comb configuration after both surface chemical modification and immobilization of sulfonic acid ligand. XRD analysis exhibited three well-resolved diffraction peaks corresponding to the highly ordered mesostructure. The five intense carbon peaks of solid-state CP-MAS (CNMR)-C-13 spectroscopy confirmed the grafting of sulfonic acid ligand onto the well-structured MCM-41. Surface properties of the material revealed a pore size of 1.98 nm and surface area of 468 m(2) g(-1). The catalytic performance of this hybrid material was tested in the alkylation of phenol with tert-butanol (TBA) and showed a high catalytic activity leading to 99.5% conversion of tert-butyl alcohol and high selectivity to monoalkylated products. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.