Abstract: The catalysis by lead oxide in the reaction of ethyl carbamate (EC) with ethanol to form diethyl carbonate (DEC) was studied. The lead oxide catalyst exhibited an excellent stability, which could be reused five times without a significant loss in catalytic activity. X-Ray powder diffraction analysis showed that the recovered catalyst was a mixture of cubic metal Pb and orthorhombic PbO₂, with the latter shown to be the real active component for the synthesis of DEC. Verification experiments showed that the reaction between DEC and PbO was the main reason for the reduction of PbO to metal Pb.

Key words: diethyl carbonate, ethyl carbamate, lead oxide, ethanol, urea