Mg-Al mixed oxides and reconstructed hydrotalcites prepared from mixed oxides by rehydration attract much attention as solid basic catalysts for organic reactions, such as aldol condensation. Therefore, the understanding of parameters that govern their catalytic performance is of great importance. Cannizzaro reaction in the presence of mixed oxide and reconstructed HTC as basic catalysts was used as a model reaction to characterize both catalytic systems and to understand their behavior in aldol condensation. The performance of the samples was investigated in the conversion of aqueous furfural mixture using stirred batch reactor operating at T=50 degrees C. The properties of both initial samples and catalysts after reaction were studied by different physico-chemical methods, such as XRD, DRIFT and TGA. It was shown that both mixed oxide and reconstructed HTC possessed poor activity in the conversion of dried furfural proving the importance of water presence for the reaction to take place. Addition of water to the reaction mixture resulted ingrowth of the yield of both furfuryl alcohol and furoyl furoate as reaction products. Furoic acid was not identified by GC analysis, but the interaction of the acid with the basic sites of catalysts was confirmed by DRIFT and TGA analyses indicating that at optimum reaction conditions, most of the basic sites were involved in the formation of furoate species. The formation of the surface furoate species influenced the behavior of the basic catalysts in aldol condensation of furfural and acetone. It allows concluding that the occurrence of Cannizzaro reaction should be taken into account when considering the behavior of basic catalysts in organic reactions with furfural as a reactant. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.