A series of amine functionalized MCM-41 catalysts were prepared by aminopropyltrimethoxysilane grafting and their catalytic performance in Knoevenagel reaction of selected substrates was investigated. Water resistant and catalytically active amine grafted MCM-41 was prepared by post-synthetic silylation using methyltrimethoxysilane ; hydrogen bonding of the water molecules formed during the condensation reaction to the active N group was suppressed, which led to high TON of the reaction. Amine functionalized MCM-41 prepared by coating method produced high conversion, but the TON of the catalyst was much lower than that of the amine grafted MCM-41; pore volume of the functionalized MCM-41 decreased substantially and large portion of the immobilized amine is believed to be hydrogen bonded to each other, which can result in decrease in the basicity of the N group. A secondary amine group was prepared by room temperature condensation between aminopropylsilane and chloropropylsilane, and the MCM-41 grafted with the secondary amine group demonstrated the highest catalytic activity among the catalysts prepared.