Benzodiazepine derivatives have recently attracted a great deal of attention as an important class of heterocyclic compounds in the field of drugs and pharmaceuticals. As a result, research in this area is still very active and is directed toward the synthesis of compounds with enhanced pharmacological activity. Generally, these compounds are synthesized by the con- densation of o-phenylenediamines with α, β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds, β-haloketones, or ketones. A variety of catalysts have been employed to affect this transformation. However, most of these methods have their drawbacks, including extended reaction times, unsatisfactory yields, severe reaction conditions as well as occurrence of side products. Hence, there is a need to develop a convenient, efficient and practically useful process for the synthesis of 1.5-benzodiazepines. Sulfonic acid functio- nalized silica (SiO2-Pr-SO3H) was found to be an efficient heterogeneous solid acid catalyst in the one-pot synthesis of 2.3-dihydro-1H-1.5-benzodiazepines by condensation of o-phenylenediamine and various ketones under solvent-free conditions. SiO2-Pr-SO3H could be easily handled and removed from the reaction mixture by simple filtration and also recovered and reused without noticeable loss of reactivity. For the preparation of SiO2-Pr-SO3H, acid sites have been incorporated into silica surface by grafting method. First, (3-mercaptopropyl) trimethoxysilane (MPTS) was grafted on the silica surface and then the thiol functionalities were oxidized into sulfonic acid groups by hydrogen peroxide. The advantages of this methodology are high product yields, being environmentally benign, short reaction times, and easy handling. These features make this method an attractive contribution to the existing approaches.