Development trends of modern technologies in recent years involve the use of "clean" energy from renewable sources. One representative of this type of energy is biodiesel. This product has several advantages over fossil energy sources: manufactured from renewable raw materials, non-toxic, biodegradable, its composition no containes sulfur, and this fuel has better lubricating properties. A recent and comprehensive review of the achievements in the field of production and application of biofuels is presented in a review article. The composition of vegetable oils, the main component in the preparation of biodiesel, is rather complicated, so the object of the study is to provide a fundamental model system. As a model, we have chosen the reaction mixture of butanol and acetic acid.