BACKGROUND Conventional transesterification of vegetable oil with methanol for biodiesel production leads to the separation of glycerol and relatively low reaction efficiency. Methyl acetate is a more common solvent being less toxic and less soluble in water. In the presence of bases the transesterification of methyl acetate with glycerol can easily proceed at refluxing temperature. RESULTS A yield of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) of 98.0% can be obtained with oil/methyl acetate/methanol molar ratio of 1:1:8 and 10% dosage of KCl/CaO at 65 degrees C after reaction for 1 h. Furthermore, results of water resistance experiments indicated that trace water gave a promoting effect on FAME yield. Recycling experiments were conducted for four cycles and a greater than 90% yield of FAME indicated the high stability of KCl/CaO. CONCLUSIONS Efficient biodiesel production with no glycerol byproduct has been developed using a tri-component (canola oil, methyl acetate and methanol) coupling chemical reaction with calcium oxide-supported chloride as catalyst. Various characterization techniques revealed that the unique catalytic activity of KCl/CaO was related to its high degree of crystallinity, relatively high surface basicity and large pore size. (c) 2019 Society of Chemical Industry