A magnetically separable 2D-hexagonally ordered thiol functionalized mesoporous silica material (Fe@TFMS) has been synthesized through co-condensation reaction of 3-mercaptopropyltriethoxysilane (MPTES) and tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a cationic surfactant followed by immobilization of Fe3O4 nanocrystallies at the functionalized mesopore surface. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), N-2 adsorption/desorption analysis, FT-IR, TEM, FE-SEM, TGA/DTA, CHNS, XPS and NH3-TPD tools are employed to characterize the materials. This functionalized mesoporous material exhibited high catalytic activity in the biodiesel production from a wide range of long chain fatty acids and soybean oil. The material showed high Lewis acidity of 1.02 mmolg(-1) with a good Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area of 411 m(2) g(-1). Fe TFMS exhibited excellent catalytic efficiency for this esterification reaction using methanol as a solvent cum reactant under eco-friendly and mild reaction conditions (room temperature, 25 degrees C). (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.