Sciencemadness Discussion Board

acetic acid synthesis from ethanol

hammer - 20-5-2004 at 16:37

I have found synthesis for acetic acid from acetone, glycerol, and sugar and niger. Is it possible to get resonable yields from ethanol.

Geomancer - 20-5-2004 at 17:25

Please detail the sugar route, I am not familiar with it. Is that Niger as in the river? Or a person with dark skin (also useful for producing the sugar), although this route probably lost popularity after the American Civil War? Or maybe nitre?

I would think any number of oxidizing agents will give acetic acid in good yield, but you'll have to separate out the water. At that rate you might as well go from vinegar, also produced by (biological) ethanol oxidation.