Acetic acid (AcOH) can be used as:
- A reaction solvent in many organic reactions such as bromination, hydrolysis, solvolysis, reductions, and hydrogenations.
- A reagent in the protonolysis of organometallic compounds.
- An acetylating agent for the acetylation of electron-rich aromatic compounds.
- A catalyst to synthesize di(indolyl)methanes by the condensation reaction of indole and aromatic aldehydes.
- A solvent system to prepare 3,4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-one derivative via Biginelli reaction of aromatic aldehydes, 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds, and urea in the presence of a boric acid catalyst.
Acetic acid can also be used in the following:
- Manganese(III) acetate/AcOH catalytic system is used in the conversion of alkenes to lactones.
- Iron salts/AcOH is used to oxidize 2-methylnaphthalene to 2-methyl-1-naphthol in the presence of H2O2.