Catalytic transfer hydrogenation (henceforth abbreviated CTH) of alkyl methyl ketones (2-butanone, 2-pentanone and 2-hexanone) by 2-propanol was studied on a commercially available MgO catalyst. Pretreatment of MgO, deactivation of the catalyst, temperature dependence of CTH and the effects of the 2-propanol/ketone ratio and of various catalyst modifiers were investigated. An important result of these studies is that the deactivation of MgO may be prevented by treatment with carbon tetrachloride. As a consequence, vapor-phase CTH using commercially available MgO may be economically realized.