The efficient and selective acetylation of glycerol to produce triacetin is achieved using magnetic solid acids as catalysts. The Fe-based materials including Fe-Sn-Ti (OH)(x), Fe-Sn-Ti(SO42-) and Fe-Sn-Ti(SO42-)-t (t represents the temperature for the heating treatment) were successfully prepared and employed in the acetylation of glycerol, respectively. As a result, 100% conversion and 99.0% selectivity for triacetin was obtained in the presence of a catalytic amount of Fe-Sn-Ti(SO42-)-400 at 80 degrees C for 30 min, which exhibits higher catalytic activity than those of some molecular sieves. The magnetic catalytic materials were respectively characterized by XRD, IR, TG-DTG, BET and NH3-TPD techniques. Moreover, the effects of reaction temperature and reaction time in the glycerol acetylation are investigated in detail. Finally, based on the experimental results and reaction phenomena, a possible mechanism for the catalytic reaction is proposed. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.