Alkylation of naphthalene with propylene to diisopropylnaphthalenes (DIPN) for the use as a high-quality solvent was carried out over mesoporous AISBA-1, GaSBA-1 and FeSBA-1 catalysts. The AISBA-1 and GaSBA-1 catalysts were very active in alkylation while the FeSBA-1 samples, although initially active, deactivated quickly. Activity of the SBA-1 catalysts increased with the amount of Al, Ga or Fe incorporation into the silica framework. Regardless of the alkylation activity, all SBA-1 catalysts showed rather low isomerization activity and as a result low 2,6-DIPN selectivity was observed. The AISBA-1 and GaSBA-1 catalysts proved to be promising for DIPN solvent synthesis due to their high alkylation activity and stability together with low 2,6-DIPN selectivity. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.