Citronitril was obtained starting from ethyl cyanoacetate and benzylacetone using solid base catalysts. Hydrotalcites were found to carry out this reaction efficiently. The hydrotalcite catalyst was optimized from the point of view of its textural properties, composition,i.e. Ca, Mg, and Zn as divalent cations, and Al/(Al + Mg) in the case of the magnesium-aluminium hydrotalcites. The influence of water, reaction temperature and polarity of the solvent on conversion and selectivity was studied.