Acetic acid is one of the important industrial chemicals, which is manufactured mainly by the carbonylation of methanol at present. The iridium-based catalyst is the most potential industrial catalyst for methanol carbonylation to acetic acid. In this article, the catalytic reaction mechanism and some factors affecting carbonylation rate for iridium-based catalyst are presented, and comparied with those for rhodium-based catalyst system.

Key words: METHANOL;CARBONYLATION;IRIDIUM COMPOUNDS;ACETIC ACID P;CATALYST, INFLUENCING FACTORS