Ruthenium and copper nanoparticles were incorporated into MCM-41-like mesoporous silica via a fast sol-gel method at 80 degrees C using rice husk ash (RHA) as the silica source. The physico-chemical characterization of the synthesized materials was carried out using various analytical techniques. The X-ray diffraction results indicated that the mesoporous silica synthesized in this study had the standard MCM-41 structure. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy results showed that ruthenium and copper ions were successfully incorporated into the hexagonal framework of the mesoporous materials. The transmission electron microscopy results revealed that the RHA-MCM-41, MCM-41-10Ru, and MCM-41-10Ru10Cu samples consisted of ordered mesoporous straight channels. MCM-41-10Cu consisted of copper nanospheres. MCM-41-10Ru and MCM-41-10Ru10Cu showed ruthenium nanoparticle agglomerates distributed on their external MCM-41 framework surfaces. In the case of MCM-41-10Cu and MCM-41-10Ru10Cu, copper ions were homogeneously dispersed on the internal surface of the agglomerated porous silica matrix. The as-prepared Ru and Cu-doped MCM-41 catalyst was used for the acetylation of glycerol. The catalyst showed a high conversion of 98% and high shape selectivity towards the formation of diacetin and triacetin unlike conventional silica-based catalysts, which show selectivity towards the formation of monoacetin. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.