A Review of Acetol: Application and Production

Problem statement: Acetol is used as organic intermediates because it contains both hydroxyl and carbonyl functional groups and mainly use to produce polyols and acrolein. It also widely uses as reduced dyes and skin tanning agent. The commercially used acetol is made from petroleum-based that leads to high cost of production. Approach: This review highlighted applications of acetol and established methods and factors affecting acetol selectivity. Global market of acetol and its contribution in Malaysia were also surveyed. Results: Multiple ways which was through dehydration of glycerol or dehydrogenation of polyols and sugar alcohols could be applied to produce acetol. Conclusion: The approach using glycerol as feedstock since its economic viable in the presence of metal supported acidic catalyst is the very promising and reliable because it’s high conversion and selectivity. The production under optimum conditions still remained as an open challenge to all researchers.