Methyl acetate has a pleasant, fruity odor and slightly bitter flavor. May be prepared by boiling acetic acid and methanol in the presence of acid catalysts; or by heating methanol with an excess carbon monoxide under pressure in the presence of a catalyst (phosphoric acid, cobalt salts).
Methyl acetate occurs naturally in low concentrations in mint, fungus,grapes, banana, coffee (Furia and Bellanca, 1975) and is a volatile constituent of nectarines (Takeoka et al., 1988). It is also present in some distilled alcoholic beverages (Shimoda et al., 1993). It is produced industrially via the carbonylation of methanol as a byproduct of acetic acid production or by esterification of acetic acid with methanol in the presence of strong acid such as sulfuric acid.