TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Method: The method further involves reducing a portion of the ester in the ester product stream to produce an alcohol product stream; feeding the alcohol product stream to the first distillation column, where the alcohol product stream comprises ethanol; feeding the alcohol product stream to the first distillate, where the alcohol product stream comprises ethanol; reacting at least a portion of the alcohol product stream with the acetic acid from the first residue, where the acetic acid is formed from methanol and carbon monoxide, where each of the methanol, the carbon monoxide, and hydrogen for the hydrogenating step is derived from syngas. The conversion of acetic acid in the hydrogenating step is greater than 70%. The conversion of acetic acid in the esterification step is greater than 90%. 1:1-15:1, where the reactive distillation column comprises a strongly acidic ion exchange resin bed. Preferred Components: The first residue stream comprises acetic acid (90-100%) in the caide ethanol product. The syngas is derived from a carbon source selected from natural gas, oil, petroleum, coal, and/or biomass. The first residue stream comprises ethanol (less than 1 wt.%) and/or ethyl acetate. The first residue stream comprises acetic acid (2-60 wt.%) and water. The alcohol is selected from methanol, ethanol, propanol, butanol, pentanol, and isomers. The ester is selected from methyl acetate, ethyl acetate, propyl acetate, butyl acetate, pentyl acetate, and/or isomers. The ester product stream comprises ester (15 wt.%). The ester product stream comprises at least one alcohol (less than 80 wt.%). The ester product stream comprises dialkyl ether (less than 1000 parts per million). The first residue stream comprises acetic acid (2-60 wt.%) and water (40-98 wt.%), where greater than 90% of the acetic acid in the first residue stream is converted to the at least one ester. The first residue stream and the alcohol are fed to the reactive distillation column at a mole ratio of acetic acid to alcohol of the reactive distillation column comprises an acidic catalyst. The acidic catalyst is sulfuric acid. The second residue comprises acetic acid (less than 5 wt.%), and water (95 wt.%). EXAMPLE - No suitable example given.