In this paper, the synthesis of glycerol carbonate from glycerol and dimethyl carbonate is studied. First, operating conditions and a catalyst were selected after screening of different alkali metal salts, resulting K2CO3 the most active species. Afterwards, given the low degree of miscibility between the reactants, a study of the phase change from a liquid-liquid emulsion to a monophasic sample throughout the reaction was successfully performed with the aid of a focused beam reflectance probe. This change took place at a conversion of approximately 0.30. With the findings of this study, distinct kinetic models were proposed and fitted to the experimental data obtained after the completion of a series of kinetic runs varying temperature (66-70 degrees C), molar ratio of dimethyl carbonate to glycerol (1.5-3) and catalyst load (0.75-1.25% w/w). A model composed of two potential equations was proposed with activation energy of 179.2 +/- 3.7 kJ mol(-1). The model was capable of describing the initial biphasic stage and the monophasic regime correlated best to the experimental data, with errors below 6.8%. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.