The study considers the use of various precursors for microwave synthesis of cerium doped zinc oxide nanoparticles its influence on the quality of synthesis. Widely used in various methods precursors were taken for the research. Monohydric and dihydric alcohols - isoamyl alcohol, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, as well as aliphatic and polycyclic amines isopropylethylenediamine and urotropine was used for the synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles doped with 1% cerium in a mass ratio. The obtained nanoparticles were studied by fluorescence spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis and scanning electron microscopy. It was found that the crystallinity of the obtained samples is 85 ± 2%, while the size of the nanoparticles varies up to 30% depending on the precursor used. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.