HZSM-5 zeolites of varying acidity and porosity were prepared under various synthesis conditions, and the effect of catalyst properties on the conversion of ethanol to gasoline reaction was investigated. Special emphasis is given to understand the role of strong acidity in effective oligomerization of olefin intermediates and their effective conversion to gasoline range hydrocarbons (most of it contains aromatics and isoparaffins) through hydrogen transfer (HT) reactions. The nano crystalline ZSM-5 (NZ) catalyst having high acidity and stacking order of mesoporosity showed high gasoline yields. The micro crystalline ZSM-5 (Catalyst Z) also exhibited comparable acidity with NZ, but could not give higher gasoline yields due to the absence of mesopores in the catalyst. Where as, catalyst ZA (micro crystalline) with low acidity and absence of mesopores produced considerable amount of propylene along with less gasoline. The studies envisioned the need of strong acidity and mesoporosity for effective conversion of olefin intermediates into C-5(+) oligomers and their conversion to gasoline through HT reactions. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.