Various lanthanum compounds were used as the catalyst for the synthesis of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) from methyl carbamate and methanol. Among them, La( NO3)(3) presented the best catalytic performance with the DMC yield of 53.7% under suitable reaction conditions. Based on the results of X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and element analysis, a possible reaction mechanism over lanthanum nitrate was proposed for this reaction. (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V.