The bis(2-ethylhexyl)ester of sebacic acid is a widely used synthetic lubricant having various applications in the aerospace, automobile and manufacturing industries. This ester was synthesized directly from sebacic acid under subcritical and near critical conditions of 2-ethylhexanol without the addition of external catalysts for the first time. Reversible reaction kinetics was used to fit the experimental data considering the effect of acid catalysis across different initial molar ratios and temperatures. Equilibrium conversion was achieved within an hour of reaction even under subcritical conditions and at a lower temperature of 523 K. The synthesis route undertaken is proposed to have an economic as well as an environmental edge, due to lower molar excess of alcohol and shorter reaction time even without the addition of external catalysts. © 2017 The Royal Society of Chemistry.