Acetic anhydride was first synthesized in 1852 by the French chemist Charles Frédéric Gerhardt (1816-1856) by heating potassium acetate with benzoyl chloride.Charles Gerhardt (1852) “Recherches sur les acides organiques anhydres” (Investigations into the anhydrides of organic acids), Comptes rendus … , 34 : 755-758.
