We synthesised phenol-formaldehyde resole resins in the presence of tetraalkylammonium hydroxides as catalysts. The activity of these catalysts was compared with the activity of sodium hydroxide. Gas chromatography, thin layer chromatography, C-13 NMR spectrometry, potentiometric titration and a few simple physicochemical methods were used to estimate the composition of the obtained resins and their properties. It was concluded from these studies that tetraalkylammonium hydroxides are active catalysts and the resins obtained in their presence show some interesting properties.