The goal of this paper is to propose suitable control methods for controlling of the highly nonlinear system represented by the mathematical model of the continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) with so called van der Vusse reaction inside. Temperature of the reactant is controlled by the heat removal of the cooling liquid in the reactor's jacket. Two control strategies were suggested - adaptive control and predictive control. The adaptive approach uses recursive identification for the optimal setting of the controller. The predictive control computes input sequence by the minimizing of the cost function constructed by the difference between output variable and reference signal. Both control strategies shows good control results and pertinence for the controlling of such type of systems.