Magnesium organo silicates (MOSs; synthetic talc) as such and with amine surface functionalities were synthesized by sol-gel method under non-hydrothermal conditions and characterized by spectroscopic techniques. The synthesized talc samples were observed to be thermally stable up to 200 degrees C in nitrogen atmosphere and used as catalysts for condensation of aldehydes and ketones. Application of synthetic talc as a solid base catalyst for condensation of aldehydes and ketones is being reported for the first time. The effect of solvent, solvent to reactant molar ratio, amount of catalyst and temperature was studied in detail for self-condensation of propanal. High conversion (86%) of propanal with 95% selectivity of 2-methylpentenal was achieved using dimethyl sulphoxide as a solvent. The kinetic study was carried out for the condensation of propanal catalyzed by amine functionalized MOS under optimum reaction conditions. Catalyst was re-used without significant loss in activity up to three cycles. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.