The transesterification of climethyl oxalate (DMO) with phenol over stannum modified TS-1 was conducted to prepare methyl phenyl oxalate (MPO) and diphenyl oxalate (DPO), which could be used to produce diphenyl carbonate (DPC). The component, structure and phase of TS-1 catalysts with various Sn loadings were investigated. The relationship between the catalytic properties and the Sn loadings was discussed. The results indicated that, although the Sn-modified TS-1 catalysts had fewer Lewis acid sites than the unmodified TS-1, its catalytic activity was increased greatly by the interaction of Sn with Ti-O-SiO3 weak Lewis acid centers. The catalyst of TS-1 with 2 wt% Sn loadings performed best, giving 50.3% conversion of dimethyl oxalate and 99.2% selectivity to the target products. By means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), the relationship between the catalytic properties and the structure of Sn dispersed on the surface of TS-1 was studied in detail. At Sn loadings below 2 wt%, Sn was highly dispersed, but at higher loadings it was crystallized into bulk tin dioxide, where the interaction between Ti and Sn was not evidently observed, leading to decreased catalytic activity. XPS results showed that Ti could not be detected even at I wt% Sn loadings. EDX results indicated that the content of Ti on the surface decreased with increasing Sn loadings, but the decrease in Ti content was much less than the increase in Sn content. Moreover, NH3-TPD and FTIR analyses of adsorbed pyridine showed that there were only weak Lewis acid centers on all catalysts and the Sn loadings hardly affected the acid strength of the catalysts. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.