A study of solid base catalysis was conducted in three main categories, namely condensation reactions of primary alcohols, alkylation reactions of dihydroxybenzene and hydrogenation reactions of phenol. Ethanol was converted into 1-butanol over alkali earth metal oxides and modified MgO catalysts (1-20 % yield). The MgO catalyst exhibits the highest reaction activity and 1-butanol selectivity amongst the catalysts studied. Reaction of various possible intermediates (acetaldehyde, crotonaldehyde, crotylalcohol, butanal) and ethanol over MgO (1 bar, 450 oC) revealed that the dimerisation reaction does not proceed primarily through the aldol condensation reaction. The reaction is proposed to proceed through a mechanism, previously proposed by Yang and Meng, in which a C-H bond in the -position in ethanol is activated by the basic metal oxide, and condenses with another molecule of ethanol, by dehydration to form 1-butanol. iv A self-condensation reaction of propanol was carried out at atmospheric pressure over MgO as catalyst. The reaction gave 2-methylpentanol and propionaldehyde as the major products. The introduction of hydrogen before and during the reaction enhanced the catalyst selectivity to 2- methylpentanol. The effect of possible reaction intermediates on the catalyst selectivity and the mechanism of the reaction were investigated over MgO and indicated the important role of hydrogen transfer in the reaction. The highest selectivity (69 %) was achieved in the presence of hydrogen at 450 oC with propanol conversion of 24 %. Condensation reactions of ethanol with butanol or propanol to higher alcohols were carried out at atmospheric pressure over various solid-base catalysts. The ability of ethanol to be activated at either the CH2 or CH3 units played a significant role in the formation of a wide range of long chain alcohols. The major products observed during the reaction between ethanol and butanol were 2-ethylbutanol, 1-hexanol and to a lesser extent 2-ethyhexanol. The main products in the reaction of ethanol and propanol were 2-methylbutanol, 1-pentanol and butanol. Trace amounts of 2- methylpentanol were also observed. The vapour phase alkylation of catechol over supported cesium catalysts gave good selectivity to guaiacol formation. The TPD studies of the catalysts used indicated that the results can be correlated with the presence of weak basic sites on the catalyst. The gas phase selective hydrogenation of phenol to cyclohexanone was investigated over palladium supported catalysts in order to clarify the influence of the support on products distribution. High selectivities towards cyclohexanone (about 86 %) were observed on palladium supported on high surface area titanium oxide supports. On the basis of the TPD studies, it has been suggested that the basic properties of the support strongly influence the adsorption-desorption of phenol and products, and are therefore responsible for the selectivity towards the reaction products