Acetylation

Description

A chemical reaction that adds an acetyl radical (CH3CO-) to a molecule in place of an -OH or -NH2 group. For example, acetylation will convert ethanol to ethyl acetate or cellulose to cellulose acetate. Acetic anhydride is used as an acetylation agent. The number of hydroxyl groups in fats and oils can be determined using acetylation and is reported as the acetyl value.

Resources and Citations

• Richard S. Lewis, Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993

• Hoechst Celanese Corporation, Dictionary of Fiber & Textile Technology (older version called Man-made Fiber and Textile Dictionary, 1965), Hoechst Celanese Corporation, Charlotte NC, 1990

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997