An investigation of hydrotalcite-derived ternary Mg-Al-Ce oxides as catalysts for vapour phase condensation of ethanol to 1-butanol in a flow reactor under atmospheric pressure was carried out. The Mg-Al-Ce oxide systems with Mg/(Al+Ce) ratio from 1 to 4 were synthesized and characterized by XRD, SEM, NMR, and XPS. The study of acid-base characteristics of the systems with different Mg/(Al+Ce) ratio by NH3/CO2 quasi-equilibrium thermal desorption techniques shows that the ratio of the catalyst oxide components (Mg, Al, Ce) can provide acid/base capacity ratio close to 3 for the effectivity of the target process. The highest selectivity 68％is reached over Mg-Al-Ce oxide catalyst with the ratio of Mg/(Al+Ce)=2.