Abstract: Fatty acid esters derived from vegetable oil and animal fat have assumed importance as a raw material for chemical industry and a potential diesel fuel extender known as biodiesel. Transesterification is one of the most important methods of esters preparation from oil and fat. The latest advances in the preparation of fatty ester via homogeneous and heterogeneous basic catalysts，which include alkaline–earth metals，layered double hydroxide and molecular sieves，are reviewed. For the high acid value oil，“two steps transesterification” and solid acid catalyst are discussed. The relationship between structure and catalysis of sulfonic fused ring compounds and meso-pore materials are analyzed. Many scientists are interested in lipase catalysts for their moderate reactive conditions and low contamination. Reducing the effects of short chain alcohol on the catalytic activity and increasing the conversion rate are the more important aspects. In the supercritical conditions，methanol and oil can react quickly and water is not harmful to the transesterification. In this work，the advantages and disadvantages of four methods are analyzed，and the research and development are discussed.

摘要： 综述了均相碱性催化剂和多相碱性催化剂，尤其是碱土金属氧化物、阴离子型层柱化合物和新型分子筛材料在油脂酯交换反应中的应用；针对高酸值油脂的特点，对“两步酯交换法”和固体酸催化法进行了讨论，并对应用性能较好的带磺酸根的稠环化合物型和介孔材料催化剂的结构与催化性能的关系进行了分析；评述了生物酶催化具有反应条件温和、污染物排放少以及超临界酯交换反应具有体系不怕水、反应速率快等优点。