Diethyl carbonate, an important member in the family of organic carbonates, is a fuel additive like dimethyl carbonate (DMC). It holds an extra edge of having better gasoline/water distribution coefficient than DMC, and also DEC is widely used as an electrolyte in lithium ion batteries. Ethanolysis of ethyl carbamate (EC) is the most economical and greener route for DEC synthesis. Zn-Al-M (M=Ca, La, Mg and Y) have been synthesized using two methods and their activity have been explored DEC systhesis from EC and ethanol. The catalysts were characterized using thermogravimetric analysis, Brunauer, Emmett and Teller surface area, N-2 adsorption-desorption textural analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, temperature-programmed desorption (TPD), atomic-force microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Pure metal oxides were observed during the XRD analysis and Al2O3 was found to be in amorphous form. Third metal oxide prepared from impregnation method was found to be present on the surface as well as in impregnated form. CO2-TPD analysis showed close correlation between the basicity and the DEC yield. Zn-Al-Mg, prepared from precipitation method, being most basic, was found to be most effective although the performances of Zn-Al-Ca and Zn-Al-La were good. The effect of precipitants was also studied by synthesizing Zn-Al-Mg using NaOH and liquid NH3 as precipitants. DEC yield of 40.2% and turn over frequency of 1055 mg(DEC) g(cat)(-1) h(-1) was obtained in 5 h at 190 degrees C using Zn-Al-Mg prepared from precipitation method. Effect of reaction conditions was also studied and equilibrium constant of the reaction was estimated using the Benson group contribution method.