Alkaline in situ transesterification of microwave pretreated jatropha curcas seed particles was studied uing benzyltrimethylammonium hydroxide as a phase transfer catalyst (PTC). The addition of PTC to alkaline catalyst improved conversion and reduced reaction time. Microwave pretreatment of jatropha seed particles reduced reaction time drastically. The quality of biodiesel produced was within the limits of the international standard requirements of ATME D6751 and EN-14214. Thus, combined use of microwave pretreatment of seed particles, phase transfer catalysis in the presence of alkaline catalyst can increase the rate of in situ transesterification and product yield. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 2013 AIChE Spring Meeting & 9th Global Congress on Process Safety (San Antonio, TX 4/28-5/2/2013).