The present invention provides a method for making aromatic carbonates. In this method, an aryl alcohol is reacted with a dialkyl carbonate in a reactor (e.g., a distillation column) to produce an arylalkyl carbonate and diaryl carbonate. In one embodiment, the method comprises: feeding to the top subsection of the reactive section of a distillation column, a first stream comprising an aryl alcohol and a catalyst, and feeding to the bottom subsection of the reactive section a second stream containing a dialkylcarbonate, wherein the temperature at the bottom of the column is between 220° C. and 240° C.