The acetalization and ketalization of various aldehydes and ketones with catechol using HAlMCM-41 zeolite as catalyst were studied. Results showed that HAlMCM-41 was an efficient catalyst for the acetalization and ketalization with high conversion and selectivity in mild conditions. The best reaction condition is that molar ratio of catechol to aldehydes or ketones was 1∶1.4, catalyst amount was 3.5 g/mol catechol, reaction time was 4 h, n(SiO₂)/n(Al₂O₃)＝15. Under this condition, conversion was over 85.6% and selectivity was over 99.4%.

Key words: catalyze, zeolite, synthesis, condensation, benzodioxole