Three mesoporous SiO2 catalyst carriers were prepd. and functionalized by grafting arenosulfonic groups. The catalysts were used in esterification of AcOH with BuOH. The catalyst with the open 3D structure of mesoporous cellular foam exhibited the highest catalytic activity, while amorphous, disordered SO2 gel-based catalyst was the worst. The kinetic model for the reaction was also proposed.