A novel mesoporous catalyst Pd-Cu-O/SiO2 were prepared by sol-gel method coupling with W/O microemulsion for oxidative carbonylation of phenol to diphenyl carbonate (DPC). It has larger specific surface area, pore volume and rather narrow pore size distribution in the range of mesopore. The catalyst shows a comparatively good activity for the synthesis of DPC and the yield reaches to 20.3%, the turnover frequency (TOF) is 15.1 mol-DPC/mol-Pd h, at certain conditions. The less dispersed active centers and the diffusion resistance caused by the numerous pores influence the reaction negatively. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.