SAPO-5 with a high Si content have been synthesized by using dipropylamine (DPA) as a template in ethylene glycol (EG) (molar ratio of silica in the reaction gels up to 2.4). Crystallinity and silicon incorporation was confirmed by XRD, XRF, N-2 sorption measurement, TG-DTA, SEM, pyridine-TPD and Al-27, Si-29 MAS-NMR. These SAPO-5 materials with high Si concentrations show higher activity for toluene alkylation reaction than samples prepared from the gel with up to 0.6 molar ratio of silica. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.