瓦克法（Wacker process），又称Hoechst-Wacker法，最早是指乙烯在含有四氯钯酸盐催化剂的水中，被空气中的氧气氧化为乙醛的反应。

这是第一个工业化的有机金属（有机钯）反应，亦是均相催化和配位催化中很重要的一个反应，在1960年代后发展很快，在石油化工发达的国家已大幅取代了乙炔水合法，用于从烯烃制取醛、酮类。反应中的钯配合物与烯烃配合物蔡氏盐类似，不过后者是一个异相催化剂。

此反应形式上与氢甲酰化反应类似，都是工业上用于醛类的反应。但两者不同的是，氢甲酰化所用的是铑基催化剂，而且氢甲酰化是一个增碳过程。

The Wacker process or the Hoechst-Wacker process (named after the chemical companies of the same name) originally referred to the oxidation of ethylene to acetaldehyde by oxygen in water in the presence of tetrachloropalladate(II) as the catalyst. The same basic reaction is used to produce aldehydes and ketones from a number of alkenes with the Monsanto process for producing acetic acid. This chemical reaction was the first organometallic and organopalladium reaction applied on an industrial scale. The Wacker process is similar to hydroformylation, which is also an industrial process and also leads to aldehyde compounds. The differences are that hydroformylation promotes chain extension, and uses a rhodium-based catalyst system. The Wacker process is an example of homogeneous catalysis. The palladium complex with ethylene is reminiscent of Zeise's salt, K[PtCl₃(C₂H₄)] which is a heterogeneous catalyst.