Abstract: Selective methylation of pyrazolone to 1-methylpyrazolone was investigated with ZrO2, which is a representative metal oxide with amphoteric character. The high selectivity up to~ 77% was obtained at 503 K. Mechanism is proposed in view of weak acidic- moderately basic pair sites of ZrO2. Key words: pyrazolone, selective methylation, methanol, metal oxide catalyst