Phenylsulfonic acid functionalized mesoporous silica as catslyst was synthesized by sol-gel technique to form a precursor bearing phenyl groups followed by further sulfonation, and characterized by BET, SEM and solid NMR. The nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms indicated that the specific area of the catalyst was 722 m²/g, the average pore size ca. 9.06 nm and pore volume 0.59 cm³/g. ¹³C and ²⁹Si CPMAS NMR spectra showed that the phenyl ring bonded with sulfonic acid group in meta-position covalently interacts with the framework of the hybrid materials. With an even distribution of active sites for the sulfonic acid groups, the catalyst showed a highly catalytic performance in esterification of various aromatic carboxylic acids with substituted phenol.

Key words: organic-inorganic hybrid material, mesoporous silica, solid acid, esterification