ZnCl2 supported on chiral mesoporous silica (Z-n-CMS, n = 1, 3, 5 mmol) as strong Lewis acid solid catalysts for hydroamination of cyclohexene is reported. XRD, HRTEM and EDX microanalysis revealed that the ZnCl2 nanoparticles (similar to 10 nm) were strongly bound and homogeneously distributed on the CMS surface and these supported nanoparticles showed catalytic synergistic effect (61.5% conversion) in the hydroamination of cyclohexene under mild temperature (60 degrees C). The performance of the prepared supported catalyst was better than other common homogeneous and heterogeneous supported mesoporous catalysts which could be explained by its helical mesostructure that improved the diffusion of substrates and the accessibility to the Lewis acid sites. Furthermore, the Z-n-CMS solid catalyst could be easily separated from the reaction media and was recyclable with little reactivity loss (similar to 9%) after four cycles of reaction. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.