Higher carbon ether compounds (HME; hexyl methyl ether and OME; octyl methyl ether) are produced from olefins (C-6 olefins: 23DM1B; 2,3-dimethyl-1-butene and 23DM2B; 2,3-dimethyl-2-butene and C-8 olefins: 244TM1P; 2,4,4-trimethyl-1-pentene and 244TM2P; 2,4,4-trimethyl-2-pentene) and methanol in the presence of commercially available Amberlyst 15 ion exchange catalyst. Stainless steel batch reactors are used and the experiments are conducted from 333 to 373 K. It appeared that alpha-olefins are much more reactive to produce the corresponding ether compounds than beta-olefins are. Probably due to steric hindrance, the reactivity of C-8 olefins seems to be less than that Of C-6 olefins. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) shows that the amount of catalyst and reaction medium is significant at 2.5% and 1% levels for the production of octyl methyl ether and at 25% and 10% levels for the production of hexyl methyl ether, respectively. The implications of the current results to the design of a continuous process for the preparation of higher carbon ethers from olefins and synthesis gas in a single-step etherification reactor are discussed. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.