Page 75 - Encyclopedia of Chemical Compounds 3 Vols

ACETIC ACID

Acetic acid. Red atoms are
oxygen; black atoms are carbon;
and white atoms are hydrogen.
The oxygen atom at top left
shares a double bond with
the nearby carbon atom.
PUBLISHERS RESOURCE GRO U P

More than 1.4 million metric tons (1.5 million short tons)
of acetic acid are produced in the United States annually. The
largest fraction of that amount is used as a raw material in
the manufacture of plastics.

HOW IT IS MADE

The most common method of making acetic acid is one
developed by the Monsanto chemical corporation. In this
process, synthesis gas (a mixture of carbon monoxide [CO]
and hydrogen [H 2 ]) is heated over a catalyst of copper metal
mixed with zinc oxide to make methanol (methyl alcohol;
3
CH OH). The methanol is then treated with carbon monoxide
(CO) to make acetic acid. Acetic acid can also be made by the
fermentation of any material that contains sugar or some
other carbohydrate. Although this method is of interest from
a historical standpoint, it is not sufficiently efficient to use
industrially.

24 CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS