The acylation of anisole with decanoic acid over a range of solid-acid catalysts has been studied under conventional heating and microwave stimulation. The microwave-irradiated experiments exhibited increased reaction rates, the extent of which was dependent upon the nature of the catalyst. The origin of this microwave enhancement has been attributed to the selective desorption of water from the surface of the catalyst. Pyridine adsorption has been used to quantify the number of acid sites present on the catalyst. The nature of the acid sites in terms of their Bronsted/Lewis acidity has been determined using infrared analysis of the adsorbed pyridine. The strength of the acid sites has been characterised by differential thermal analysis (DTA) of the pyridine desorption. This indicated that the sulphated zirconia and supported heteropoly acids contained significantly more strong acid sites than the cerium exchanged zeolite. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.