The catalytic activity of Al grafted MCM-41 (Al-MS) was explored for solvent free acid catalysed direct N-alkylation of amines using alcohols as green alkylating agent to establish a clean method for synthesis of N-alkylated amines. The study revealed that acidity of Al-MS catalyst, reaction conditions and substrate's (amines and alcohols) nature are important factors influencing the N-alkylation reaction. The Al grafted MCM-41 with Si/Al molar ratio of 5 showed excellent activity for N-alkylation of amines with alcohols. The reusability of spent catalyst regenerated by simple washing with acetone was demonstrated for subsequent four reaction cycles. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.