A highly porous metal-organic framework (IRMOF-3) was synthesized from the reaction of zinc nitrate hexahydrate and 2-amino-1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid by solvothermal method. Physical characterizations of the material were achieved by using a variety of different techniques, including X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS), and nitrogen physisorption measurements. The IRMOF-3 was used as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for the Paal-Knorr reaction of benzyl amine with 2,5-hexanedione. Excellent conversions were obtained under mild conditions in the presence of 3 mol% catalyst. The IRMOF-3 catalyst could be reused several times without a significant degradation in catalytic activity. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.