The present study employed ultrasonic mixing and closed microwave irradiation to assist transesterification of soybean oil. The purpose was to obtain the optimal ultrasonic mixing and closed microwave irradiation procedure. The optimal reaction conditions including amount of catalyst used, reaction temperature and methanol/oil molar ratio were also investigated to achieve the highest possible conversion rate of biodiesel. Results showed that the optimal procedure involved 1-min ultrasonic mixing and 2-min closed microwave irradiation. The optimal reaction conditions that can reach 97.7% of conversion rate were amount of catalyst used, 1.0 wt%; reaction temperature, 333 K; and methanol/oil molar ratio, 6:1. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.