Liquid phase Friedel-Crafts acylation of 2-methylnaphthalene (2-MN) has been investigated over zeolite catalyst. The influence of zeolite structures, substituents on naphthalene, acylating agents and solvents on the acylation has been discussed. 2-Methyl-6-butyrylnaphthalene (2,6-BMN), a promising precursor of 2,6-naphthalenedicarboxylic acid (2,6-NDCA), has been synthesized by the acylation of 2-MN using butyric anhydride (BA) as an acylating agent and H-beta zeolite as a catalyst. The influence of the preparative methods and dosage of H-beta zeolite, the molar ratio of reactants, the reaction temperature and reaction time on the catalytic butyrylation was also studied. The H-beta zeolite exchanged for four times and calcined at 550 degrees C possessed relatively better catalytic performance. Under the optimized condition, the conversion of BA reached 78.3% and the selectivity for 2,6-BMN was 53.1%. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.