The alcoholysis of cellobiose, which is a dimer of glucose and a model molecule of cellulose, has been studied in methanol medium in the presence of various solid acids. Zeolite H-ZSM-5 was found to be highly efficient for the conversion of cellobiose into methyl glucosides (including methyl-alpha-glucoside and methyl-beta-glucoside) in methanol. The Bronsted acidity plays a key role in the catalytic alcoholysis of cellobiose. H-ZSM-5 with a lower Si/Al ratio (20) possessed higher density of acidic sites afforded a higher methyl glucoside yield (53%) for the conversion of cellobiose at 423 K. The introduction of mesoporosity into the zeolite significantly enhanced its catalytic performance. Methyl glucosides with a yield of 73% were achieved from cellobiose over a mesoporous H-ZSM-5 (H-meso-ZSM-5-0.5 M) sample with an average mesopore size of 6.1 nm. The mesoporous ZSM-5 could also catalyze the direct transformation of cellulose in methanol, providing methyl glucosides with yields of 51% at 463 K. Our comparative studies revealed that the alcoholysis of cellulose in methanol proceeded more efficiently than the hydrolysis of cellulose in water under similar reaction conditions. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.