Sulfated zirconia (SZ) has been found to have a high performance in the benzoylation of anisole. Thus, several aromatics were reacted with benzoic anhydride, benzoyl chloride, and acetic anhydride as acylating agents on SZ, to give the corresponding benzophenones and acetophenones. The rate of the acylation reactions is dependent on the nature of the respective aromatic. The reactivity decreases in the following order: anisole > mesitylene > 3-chloroanisole similar to m-xylene similar to 2-chloroanisole > toluene for benzoylations on SZ. The application of SZ as a catalyst for the acetylation of aromatics was only successful in case of anisole. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.