Studies of producing acetic acid by carbonylation of methanol

The Monsanto process for the carbonylation of methanol to acetic acid has many advantages such as high conversion of reactants and high yield of the product, but the disadvantages are also apparent, which include the high cost of the catalyst (rhodium) and the severe corrosion to equipment by the co-catalyst iodide. The improvement of Monsanto's technology, the Ir-based catalyst of BP (Cativa(TM) technology) and especially the catalytic mechanism are reviewed. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages of different catalytic systems and the progress tendencies of those systems in the future are also introduced.