Regioselective alkylation of naphthalene compounds with alcohols smoothly proceeded in the presence of zeolite catalysts under microwave irradiation. A H-mordenite (H-M) zeolite catalyst (SiO2/Al2O3 ratio = 240) showed the highest efficiency. In the microwave reactions, high reaction rates and high selectivities for 2,6-dialkylnaphthalenes were achieved. In the best case for the reaction of 2-isopropylnaphthalene with isopropyl alcohol, the conversion and the selectivity were 43.5% and 66.4%, respectively. In di-tert-butylation of naphthalene with tert-butyl alcohol, the conversion and the selectivity reached 86.5% and 70.4%, respectively. The conversions and the selectivities were generally higher than those obtained by conventional oil bath heating. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.