preferably from about 1 0 05 to about 1 0 0001 more preferably from about 1 0 02 to about 1 0 0005 and most preferably between about 1 0 01 and 1 0 0005 in such a situation the amount added of benzaldehyde is dictated by the type of acetal alditol product desired mono di or tri acetal in relation to the molar amounts needed of the alditol component the amount of aqueous acid to be added should be from about 1 to 5 times the amount of the total weight of benzaldehyde and alditol present with concentrations anywhere between about 2m and 18m depending upon the acid used the reaction takes place at room temperature generally although some heating may be followed some acids also react exothermically with water such as sulfuric acid to generate some internal heat within the system itself all of the components may be mixed together initially or the surfactant and acid may be first mixed together under heat if desired with subsequent addition of the reactants the time for reaction may take anywhere from a few minutes e g 10 minutes as one non limiting example to a few days e g 48 hours as one non limiting example depending upon the batch size and the amount of acid catalyst present generally a reaction time of from about 8 hours to about 48 hours more preferably from about 8 hours to about 36 hours is sufficient to produce the desired high yield acetal alditol derivatives upon production a solid precipitate is generally formed and neutralized to a ph of from about 6 to about 9 5 with a ph of from about 7 5 to 9 more particularly from about 8 5 to.