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. Getting value from glycerol: Over the past 60 years, glycerol (1,2,3‐propanetriol) has gone from being a key industrial chemical that faced shortage to a by‐product that is formed in surplus during biodiesel production. Recent developments in its applications and its conversion into value‐added chemicals highlight the importance of glycerol as a key raw material in biorefineries of the future.