and hydrogen peroxide are produced with a selectivity of 80 % upon multistage oxidation of isopropanol with air at 15 to 20 bar and 90 to 40 °C:

The degree of conversion is limited to about 30 % to suppress side reactions. After the oxidation and diluting the reaction mixture with water, the acetone, unreacted isopropanol and water are distilled off. A ca. 20 % hydrogen peroxide solution is run off from the sump (sump temperature ca. 120 °C). Acetone is separated from the distillate and the isopropanol-water solution fed back into the process. The 20 % hydrogen peroxide solution is then purified over ion exchangers and concentrated by distillation. The process has one disadvantage: the weight of acetone produced is double that of the hydrogen peroxide. This must either be utilized in situ or reduced back to isopropanol with hydrogen.