Abstract: With the development of science and technology, lubricants with long service life, good degradability, high thermo-stability and ultra-low temperature properties are required in order to meet the demand for harsh working conditions. Meanwhile, the lubricants should have good comprehensive properties which mineral oils can not be possessed. Thus, the synthetic oils play more and more important role in modern industries. The properties, compositions and molecular structures of synthetic oils can be devised according to the requirements.Compared with mineral oils, the synthetic oils have good viscosity-temperature behaviour, good antioxidation, high thermo stability, good radio-resistance and good lubricating properties. In this paper, the preparation method and the properties of some synthetic oils were introduced. Furthermore, the research status and prospect of synthetic oils were also discussed.