Methyl Iso Butyl Ketone

 Methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) is the common name for the organic compound 4-methylpentan-2-one, condensed chemical formula (CH₃)₂CHCH₂C(O)CH₃. This colourless liquid, a ketone, is used as a solvent for gums, resins, paints, varnishes, lacquers, and nitrocellulose.

At laboratory scale, MIBK can be produced via a three-step process using acetone as the starting material. Self-condensation, a type of aldol reaction, produces diacetone alcohol, which readily dehydrates to give 4-methylpent-3-en-2-one (commonly, mesityl oxide).Mesityl oxide is then hydrogenated to give MIBK.

Industrially, these three steps are combined. Acetone is treated with a strongly acidic, palladium catalyst-doped cation exchange resin under medium pressure of hydrogen. Several million kilograms are produced annually