A novel mesoporous solid acid catalyst system was designed by loading sulfated zirconia into mesostructured gamma-Al2O3. Their catalytic activities for conversion of n-pentane, Friedel-Crafts benzoylation of anisole with benzoyl chloride and dealkylation of 1,3,5-tri-tert-butyl-benzene were investigated. For comparison, sulfated zirconia and MCM-41. supported sulfated zirconia were also examined. Textural and structural characterizations of the catalysts were performed by means of N-2 adsorption, X-ray diffraction and diffuse reflectance UV-vis spectroscopy. Temperature programmed desorption of ammonia and FTIR spectra of adsorbed pyridine were used to determine the acid properties. The results show that novel mesoporous solid acids exhibit superior catalytic performances to sulfated zirconia and MCM-41 supported sulfated zirconia. The enhanced performances of the novel mesoporous acid catalysts can be attributed to more acid sites and/or stronger acid strength. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.