Angewandte Chemie (International Edition) 2007-01-01

From glycerol to value-added products.

Mario Pagliaro, Rosaria Ciriminna, Hiroshi Kimura, Michele Rossi, Cristina Della Pina

Index: Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 46(24) , 4434-40, (2007)

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Abstract

Today, industrial plants that produce glycerol are closing down and others are opening that use glycerol as a raw material, owing to the large surplus of glycerol formed as a by-product during the production of biodiesel. Research efforts to find new applications of glycerol as a low-cost feedstock for functional derivatives have led to the introduction of a number of selective processes for converting glycerol into commercially valued products. This Minireview describes a selection of such achievements and shows how glycerol will be a central raw material in future chemical industries.