The ketonization of hexanoic acid, which can be prepared by the fermentation of sugars, was performed in an effort to obtain the diesel-blendable high-carbon-number ketone 6-undecanone in this study. Based on observations of the leaching of highly active base catalysts, magnesium oxide and manganese oxide, the stable amphoteric solid catalyst zirconia was selected for the acid-rich reaction environment. A high-surface-area zirconia aerogel was prepared, which successfully ketonized hexanoic acid to 6-undecanone with high conversion, 72.3%, and high selectivity, 92.6%. The further optimization of the porous structures of zirconia led to possibly improved mass transfer with approximately 35 nm of pores, which improved the catalytic activity of zirconia. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.