Advances in Acetic Acid Synthesis via Thermocatalytic Conversion of CO2.

Acetic acid (AA) has a growing market with wide applications within the food industry and chemical intermediates. Conventional AA production processes rely heavily on fossil-based feedstocks and noble metal catalysts, resulting in high energy consumption and cost with poor environmental sustainability. Synthesis of AA using CO2 is of great importance and presents a promising avenue for addressing environmental challenges and advancing sustainable energy solutions. In this short review, we systematically summarize and discuss the development of AA synthesis from CO2 since the 1990s, and we manage to provide an in-depth analysis of the recent evolutions and corresponding catalytic systems for AA production from CO2. The review scrutinizes three ways (four routes) for the conversion of CO2 to AA, catalytic systems and reaction mechanisms, and offers a future direction for harnessing CO2 conversion to AA. Readers can acquire a thorough grasp of AA synthesis from CO2, revealing its promise as a sustainable route for chemical synthesis.