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Product
Crude Acrylic Acid
Abbreviation
CAA
Names
Technical Grade Acetic Acid; Ester-Grade Acetic Acid; Acrylic Acid 94%
Insight Articles
#PS77
Main Product
Acrylic Acid
Segment
Chemicals
Main-Family
Functional Organic Products
Sub-Family
Carboxylic Acids
Physical State

Liquid

Description

Crude Acrylic Acid (CAA) is the unpurified intermediate obtained directly from the two-step catalytic oxidation of propylene — after the reactor effluent is quenched, absorbed in water, and stripped of most by-products, but before final distillation.

Typical characteristics:

Property Typical value
Acrylic acid content ~90–95%
Appearance Colourless to yellowish liquid, pungent odour
Main impurities Water, acetic acid, propionic acid, maleic anhydride, aldehydes (acrolein, furfural), acrylic acid dimers
Inhibitor MEHQ + dissolved oxygen (to prevent polymerisation)


Role in the value chain: Crude acrylic acid is essentially the working feedstock of the acrylates industry. It has two principal destinations:

  1. Direct feed to esterification units — reacted with alcohols (methanol, ethanol, butanol, 2-ethylhexanol) to produce acrylate esters, where residual water and minor impurities are acceptable. When sold commercially for this purpose, it is marketed as ester-grade or technical-grade (~94%) acid.

  2. Feed to the distillation train — purified to glacial acrylic acid (GAA, ≥99.5%) for polymerisation-grade applications such as superabsorbent polymers and carbomers.

Because ester producers tolerate its impurity profile, most crude acid is consumed captively on-site or sold short-haul; it is rarely shipped long distances, unlike GAA or finished esters.

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Products Picture
Position of crude acrylic acid in the Acrylic Acid manufacturing process | Source: Tamagozilla blogspot https://tamagozzilla.blogspot.com/2024/11/acrylic-acid-mo-memoir-tuesday-26.html
  Product Communicator
Title Date
  UserPic No MW and physical properties available 9/22/2021
  UserPic Changed Abbreviation CAA 9/1/2021
Identifiers
logo CAS Number
79-10-7
logo EC Number
201-177-9
logo ECHA InfoCard
100.001.071
logo IUPAC Name
Prop-2-enoic acid
logo PubChem ID
6581
Chemical Data
Chemical Formula

C3H402

Molecular Weight (g/mol)
72.063
Boiling Point (°C)
141
Melting Point (°C)
14
Sulfur Content (wt%)
0
Specific Gravity
1.05
Crude Data
API Gravity
3.12
Country
Product Settings
Default
Status
A
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Transaction Name Date
Modified by UserPic   Kokel, Nicolas 8/16/2026 7:55 AM
Added by UserPic   Kokel, Nicolas 2/21/2021 10:04 PM