How acetone is made
Nail polish remover is a by-product. Plants that make phenol get acetone from the very same split.
- stations
- 5
- things upstream
- 10
- raw sources
- 5
- steps from the ground
- 5
The short version
About 83% of the world's supply comes out of the cumene process. Benzene and propylene combine into cumene, air turns that into a hydroperoxide, and acid splits it into phenol and acetone at the same time. Columns separate the two, and most of this volatile solvent heads for paint, plastics and, in small part, nail polish remover.
-
Combine the two feedstocks
Benzene and propylene are compressed together over an acid catalyst and form cumene. Both are cheap refinery chemicals, and the point of the process is that two products worth more come out the far end.
-
Oxidize with air
Air and a small amount of a radical initiator turn cumene into cumene hydroperoxide through a chain reaction. This intermediate is kept under strict control in closed vessels.
Goes in -
Break the hydroperoxide
An acidic medium rearranges the molecule and splits it in two. One half is phenol, and the other half is a small three-carbon ketone. Output of each is tied to the other, so demand for both has to hold up.
-
Separate in columns
Distillation pulls apart the mixture. This product boils first, at 56.2 °C, far below phenol, so it comes off the top as a clear and flammable liquid.
-
Ship the solvent
Tankers take about a third of it to solvent users and a quarter to make methyl methacrylate. Bisphenol A plants, for polycarbonate and epoxy, take another large share.
Worth repeating
- People exhale 1.2 to 2.5 mg of acetone per day, since the human body makes small quantities of it.
- During the First World War, Chaim Weizmann developed a bacterial fermentation to make acetone for the British war effort.
- World production capacity was estimated at 6.7 million tonnes per year in 2010.
Back to the ground
Follow every input upstream and acetone starts as these 5 raw sources.
Where it goes next
Acetone feeds 5 lines directly and reaches 192 things in total.
Further down the line
Keep walking
Sources
Cite this page: "How acetone is made." Assembly Line, 2026-11-03. https://assemblyline.org/make/acetone