A fermentation process used to produce acetone, butanol, and ethanol using the acid-resistant bacterium Clostridium acetobutylicum. The bacteria derived from soil and cereals is able to convert whey, sugar, and starch. The process was developed by Russian-born chemist Chaim Weizmann (1874–1952) and was used in the UK in the First World War for the production of acetone, which was used in the production of cordite. He became a UK citizen in 1910 and then the first president of Israel in 1949. The process is also known as the ABE fermentation.