A kinetic investigation of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) synthesis from methanol and CO2 over ZrO2-MgO was performed by using butylene oxide as a chemical trap for the water formed during the reaction. The effect of the catalyst amount, the stirring speed, the temperature, as well as the amount of butylene oxide on the reaction rate and the selectivity to DMC was studied. The analysis of the reaction pathway suggests that DMC and butylene glycol are formed via the reaction of adsorbed mono-methoxycarbonate intermediate and methoxybutanol or methanol. A kinetic model was developed based on the reaction mechanism and it was in agreement with the experimental data. The apparent activation energy for the formation of DMC was 62 kj/mol. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.