Review of Acetic Acid Synthesis from Various Feedstocks Through Different Catalytic Processes

Acetic acid (AA) has been largely used with a wide range of applications such as a raw material for a synthesis of vinyl acetate monomer, cellulose acetate or acetate anhydrate, acetate ester and a solvent for a synthesis of terephthalic acid and so on. The present paper briefly summarizes the commercialized chemical processes with their Rh or Ir-based catalytic systems in a liquid-phase carbonylation reaction such as Monsanto, Cativa and Acetica processes. In addition, some alternative catalytic systems such as heterogeneous catalysts to produce AA by direct oxidation or indirect carbonylation of dimethyl ether through BP-SaaBre process in a gas-phase reaction to solve some problems such as a difficult separation of homogeneous catalysts in a corrosive reaction medium. Some home-made heterogeneous catalysts such as a rhodium incorporated graphitic carbon nitride (Rh-g-C3N4) and some heterogenized homogeneous catalysts using the supports of tungsten carbide, iron oxide or graphitic carbon nitride containing rhodium complexes were also introduced for the synthesis of AA through a liquid-phase methanol carbonylation reaction to effectively solve the leaching problem of active rhodium metal as well as to mitigate the separation problem of homogeneous catalysts.