From glycerol to value-added products.
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.
Pagliaro
Mario
M
Institute for Scientific Methodology, CNR via Ugo La Malfa 153, 90146 Palermo, Italy. mario.pagliaro@ismn.cnr.it
Ciriminna
Rosaria
R
Kimura
Hiroshi
H
Rossi
Michele
M
Della Pina
Cristina
C
D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000639:trends*; D005990:Glycerol / Q000737:chemistry*; D007220:Industrial Waste
D007220:Industrial Waste; D005990:Glycerol