Zinc salts are active catalysts for the reation of urea and 1,2-propylene glycol, especially zinc perchlorate hexahydrat which shows very excellent catalytic activity.The effects of reaction time，dosage of catalyst and reaction temperature on the synthesis are investigated．The optimized reaction conditions are shown as follows: 4 of molar ratio of 1, 2-propanediol to urea, 3 h of reaction time, 1.5% of catalyst mass fraction ( based on all reaction materials) and170℃ of reaction temperature. Under the optimal reaction condition，the yield of propylene carbonate can reach over 94.2% . Electron withdrawing ability of perchlorate ion might be the key factors that influenced the catalytic activities.