In this work, using phenylacetylene as alkenylating agent, the alkenylation of p-xylene on a series of hierarchical H beta (Hier-H beta) zeolites prepared by a modified steam-assisted conversion (SAC) method under different preparation conditions was firstly investigated. Various characterization techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), argon adsorption-desorption, ammonia temperature-programmed desorption (NH3-TPD), pyridine-IR (Py-IR), and thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) were adopted to discover the relationship of structure-performance in alkenylation. The results demonstrate that the optimized Hier-H beta zeolite exhibits an outstanding alkenylation catalytic performance, which is much better than the traditional microporous H beta zeolite. It can be found that the alkenylation catalytic properties of the as-prepared Hier-H beta zeolites are dramatically affected by their properties of acidic sites and textural properties, which are significantly dependent on the preparation process parameters for SAC process. Moreover, the spent Hier-H beta zeolite catalyst can be completely refreshed by a simple calcination method. In a word, the optimized Hier-H beta catalyst prepared by a modified SAC approach demonstrates great potential to promote alkenylation of aromatics with alkynes to their corresponding alkylaromatics. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.