Hydration and acetoxylation of limonene and alpha-pinene into terpineol and terpinyl acetate in the liquid phase have been studied using transition metal and rare earth ion-exchanged beta zeolite. These catalysts under optimized reaction conditions showed higher activity and selectivity compared to conventionally used acid catalysts such as H2SO4 and amberlyst-15. Conversions of 9-26% and 58-82% were obtained for limonene the in presence of glacial and aqueous acetic acid, respectively, and the selectivity for major products alpha-terpinyl acetate and terpineol were up to 54% and 65%, respectively. Conversion values in the range of 62-100% and 72-100% were obtained for alpha-pinene in the presence of glacial and aqueous acetic acid, respectively. Virtually no oligomerisation of monoterpenes occurred understudied conditions. From the measured acidity data of these zeolites, it is observed that both hydration and acetoxylation are Bronsted acid-catalysed reactions. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.