<p>Butyl butyrate, derived from bio-renewable sources, has gained attention as a viable, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) blend, offering potential reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and decreasing dependence on fossil fuels. Herein, butyl butyrate is synthesized from biomass-derived butyric acid and n-butanol through an esterification reaction using a sulfonated graphene oxide (GO) catalyst. Graphite flakes, Indian coal, and commercial graphene oxides are used to synthesize sulfonated GO catalysts. Powder-XRD patterns, Raman, and FTIR spectra revealed the successful formation of GO and sulfonated GO. The FE-SEM and TEM micrographs confirmed that the sheet-like morphology of GO is not significantly altered after the sulfonation reaction. The NH₃-TPD results showed a strong acidic nature of the sulfonated-GO catalysts. The sulfonated GO derived from graphite flake (S-G-GO) caused 96% butyric acid conversion and 92% butyl butyrate yield, respectively. The effectiveness of converting butyric acid and producing butyl butyrate was also evaluated using sulfonated GO prepared from Indian coal (S-CO-GO) and commercial GO (S-C-GO), achieving up to 98% conversion and 93% yield. The activation energy for the optimal catalyst (S-G-GO) was calculated to be 38.83&#xa0;kJ.mol⁻¹ using the Arrhenius plot, with the reaction adhering to pseudo-first-order kinetics. The Eyring plot was employed to calculate ΔG*, ΔH*, and ΔS* values as 105.77&#xa0;kJ.mol⁻¹, 35.75&#xa0;kJ.mol⁻¹, and − 178.21&#xa0;J.mol⁻¹·K⁻¹, respectively. This study opens a simple synthetic route to produce butyl butyrate and allows an understanding of catalyst behavior on the conversion of butyric acid for aviation industry applications.</p> Graphical Abstract <p></p>