The chemical equilibrium and reaction kinetics for transesterification of methyl acetate with ethanol to form ethyl acetate and methanol catalyzed by an ionic liquid 4-(3-methyl-1-imidazolio)-1-butanesulfonic acid triflate ([HSO3-bmim]CF3SO3) were studied. The reaction enthalpy was obtained experimentally and theoretically. The effects of temperature, initial molar ratio of ethanol to methyl acetate and catalyst concentrations to the reaction rate were investigated. The reaction mechanism of transesterification catalyzed by ionic liquids is proposed. Based on the reaction mechanism, an ideal-solution model (IM) and a non-ideal-solution model (NIM) were used to correlate the reaction kinetics data. The NIM was more reliable to describe the reaction kinetics. Compared with sulfuric acid, the ionic liquid catalyst was more active. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.