Patent ID: 8916727

Claim:
A process for producing acetic acid, the process comprising the steps of: reacting carbon monoxide in the liquid phase with at least one reactant selected from the group consisting of methanol, methyl acetate, methyl formate, dimethyl ether and mixtures thereof in a reactor containing a reaction medium to produce a liquid reaction product comprising acetic acid, wherein the reaction medium comprises a finite amount of water, a homogeneous catalyst, an alkyl halide promoter, and a catalyst stabilizer comprising a dissymmetric phosphonium cation [PR 1 R 2 R 3 R 4 ] + as an iodide salt, wherein R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , and R 4 are each independently a C 2 or greater substituted or unsubstituted alkyl or cycloalkyl; and maintaining the reaction medium at a total iodide ion concentration of from 2 to 35 wt. % and an alkyl halide promoter concentration of greater than 1 wt. %, based on the total weight of the reaction medium.