Esterification of tert-butanol by acetic anhydride to tert-butyl acetate over InCl3/Al2O3, GaCl3/Al2O3, FeCl3/Al2O3, MnCl2/Al2O3, CoCl2/Al2O3, NiCl2/Al2O3, CuCl2/Al2O3 and ZnCl3/Al2O3 (metal chloride loading = 1.2 mmol g(-1)) catalysts have been investigated. The yield of tert-butyl acetate obtained was over 99.5% when the reaction conditions used were as follows: the molar ratio of tert-butanol/acetic acid anhydride = 1.1, the catalysts/(tert-butanol + acetic anhydride) wt. ratlio = 0.026, reaction temperaturc = 30 degrees C, and reaction time = 2h. The esterification activity of the alumina supported metal chloride catalysts is in the following order: InCl3 > GaCl3 > FeCl3 > ZnCl2 > CuCl2 > NiCl2 > CoCl2 > MnCl2 > Al2O3. These catalysts can also be reused in the esterification of tert-butanol for several times. The effect of some factors such as reaction temperature, the amount of used catalyst and reaction time on the esterification has been investigated. InCl3/Al2O3 is highly active, selective and reusable catalyst for the esterification, (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.