TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Process: The process (p1) further involves: separating, in a first column, at least a portion of the crude ethanol product into a first distillate comprising ethanol and n-propanol, and a first residue comprising acetic acid; separating, in a second column, at least a portion of the first distillate into a second distillate and a second residue comprising ethanol, at least a portion of the n-propanol, and water; and separating, in a third column, at least a portion of the second residue into a third distillate comprising ethanol and a third residue comprising water. The process (p1) further involves: withdrawing, from the third column, a side stream comprising n-propanol; contacting acetic acid and hydrogen, in an auxiliary reactor, under conditions to form the acetone, where the denatured ethanol composition, as formed, comprises isopropanol (0.1-10 wt.%). The separating step involves: separating a first portion of the crude ethanol product into an ethanol stream and the derivative streams; purifying the ethanol stream to form a purified ethanol stream; and combining a second portion of the crude ethanol product with the purified ethanol stream to form the denatured ethanol composition. The separating step involves: separating at least a portion of the crude ethanol product into an ethanol stream and the derivative stream; purifying the ethanol stream to form a purified ethanol stream; and combining at least a portion of the acetic acid feed with the purified ethanol stream to form the denatured ethanol composition. The process further involves: separating, in a first column, at least a portion of the crude ethanol product into a first distillate comprising ethanol, acetaldehyde, and ethyl acetate, and a first residue comprising acetic acid. The process (p1) further involves: separating at least a portion of the first distillate into an ethanol stream and a denaturant stream comprising acetaldehyde and ethyl acetate; purifying the ethanol stream to form a purified ethanol stream; and combining at least a portion of the denaturant stream and the purified ethanol stream to form the denatured ethanol composition. The process further involves: separating at least a portion of the first distillate into an ethanol stream; purifying the ethanol stream to form a purified ethanol stream; and combining at least a portion of the first residue and the purified ethanol stream to form the denatured ethanol composition. The process further involves: separating, in a second column, at least a portion of the first distillate into a second distillate comprising ethyl acetate and/or acetaldehyde, and an ethanol stream; purifying the ethanol stream to form a purified ethanol stream; and combining at least a portion of the second distillate and the purified ethanol stream to form the denatured ethanol composition, where the second column is an extractive distillation column. The process further involves: separating, in a second column, at least a portion of the first distillate into a second residue comprising ethyl acetate, and an ethanol stream; purifying the ethanol stream to form a purified ethanol stream; and combining at least a portion of the second residue and the purified ethanol stream to form the denatured ethanol composition. The process (p1) further involves: separating, in a second column, at least a portion of the first distillate into a second residue comprising ethyl acetate, and an ethanol stream; separating, in a third column, at least a portion of the second residue into a third distillate comprising ethyl acetate and ethanol. The propionic acid is hydrogenated to produce n-propanol. Preferred Composition: The denatured ethanol composition comprises ethanol (50-99 wt.%). The crude ethanol product further comprises (wt.%): ethyl acetate (0.01-20); acetaldehyde (0.01-10); isopropanol (0.01-10); diethyl ether (0.01-20); acetic acid (0-90); and water (5-35). The second column is a non-extractive distillation column. The denaturant comprises (wt.%): ethyl acetate (0.01-40, preferably 0.01-20)/acetaldehyde (0.01-10)/isopropanol (0.1-10)/diethyl ether (0.01-20, preferably 0.1-20)/acetic acid (0-90, preferably 0.01-20)/n-propanol (0.1-10); ethanol (50-99); and water (1-35, preferably 5-35), based on the total weight of the crude ethanol product. Preferred Components: The denaturant comprises ethyl acetate, acetaldehyde, isopropanol, diethyl ether, acetic acid, acetaldehyde, ethyl ether or methanol. The acetic acid feed comprises acetic acid and propionic acid. The acetic acid feed comprises acetic acid and acetone, and the denaturant comprises isopropanol. EXAMPLE - A crude ethanol product comprising ethanol, acetic acid, water, and ethyl acetate was produced by reacting a vaporized feed comprising acetic acid (95.2 wt.%) and water (4.6 wt.%), with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst comprising platinum (1.6 wt.%) and tin (1 wt.%) supported on 1/8 inch calcium silicate modified silica extrudates at 291 degrees C, an outlet pressure of 2063 KPa. Unreacted hydrogen was recycled back to the inlet of the reactor. Under these conditions, 42.8% of the acetic acid was converted, and the selectivity to ethanol was 87.1%, selectivity to ethyl acetate was 8.4%, and selectivity to acetaldehyde was 3.5%. The crude ethanol mixture was purified using a separation scheme having distillation columns. The crude ethanol product was fed to the first column at a feed rate of 20 g/minute. The first distillate was condensed and refluxed at a 1:1 ratio at the top of the first column, and a portion of the distillate was introduced to the second column at a feed rate of 7.6 g/minute. The second column was equipped with 25 trays. The second column was operated at 82 degrees C at atmospheric pressure. The column differential pressure between the trays in the second column was 2.6 KPa. The second residue was withdrawn at a flow rate of 5.8 g/minute and directed to the third column. The second distillate was refluxed at a ratio of 4.5:0.5 and the remaining distillate was collected for analysis. The first column distillate was a denatured ethanol composition, which comprised water (24.7), acetaldehyde (1.8), acetic acid (0.08), ethanol (57.6), ethyl acetate (15.1), acetal (0.1) and acetone (0.01). Residue from the second column was collected from several runs and introduced (above tray 25) to the third column, at a rate of 10 g/minute. The third column was operated at 103 degrees C at atmospheric pressure. The column differential pressure between the trays in the third column was 6.2 KPa. The third residue was withdrawn at a flow rate of 2.7 g/minute. The third distillate was condensed and refluxed at a 3:1 ratio at the top of the third column. The composition of the recovered ethanol composition (wt.%) was acetic acid (0.001), ethanol (93.8), water (6.84), ethyl acetate (1.8), acetal (0.03), and isopropanol (0.005).