ABSTRACT
Vinyl acetate represents the single largest use of acetic acid, with a worldwide production of about 2.7 billion kg!year in 1989. Several processes have been used to generate this material on commercial scales. These processes have included the addition of acetic acid to acetylene [Eq. (1)], the addition of acetic acid to ethylene [Eq. (2)], and the sequential addition of acetic anhydride to acetaldehyde to form ethylidene diacetate (1,1diacetoxyethane) and subsequent cracking of ethylidene diacetate to vinyl acetate and acetic acid [Eq. (3) and (4)].
