Review of heterogeneous methanol carbonylation to acetyl species

•An insightful review on heterogeneous methanol carbonylation with mechanism.•The emphasis on coordinationally or ionically supported new Rh carbonylation centers.•The thoroughly studied Ir-La/C system with a different center from homogeneous one.•The emphasis on combination with “single-site” and “ionically bound mode”.•Iodine-free and green zeolites suffer from low activity and two-step process.