The direct transformation of ethanol to ethyl acetate was studied over supported palladium catalysts with low palladium content (1%, w/w Pd) at 1 MPa pressure. SiO2, Al2O3, ZnO, SnO2 and WO3-ZrO2 (29%, w/w WO3) were used as supports. The catalytic behaviour of samples was related to the characteristics of the support and the presence of mono- or bimetallic entities. The best catalytic results were obtained with ZnO-and SnO2-supported catalysts, which can easily lead to alloyed palladium phases. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.