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Other synonyms of glycerine are 1,2,3-propanetriol; D-glycerol; L-glycerol (although glycerol is not optically active; C2 is not a stereocenter); 1,2,3-Trihydroxypropane; glyceritol; glycyl alcohol; trihydroxypropane; Glycerin mist; Polyhydric alcohols; Propanetriol
In its common liquid form, glycerol is nonpoisonous, colorless, odorless and sweet tasting and has a high viscosity.
Glycerin is soluble in water, because of the three hydrophilic hydroxyl groups (OH).
When referring to its function in living organism, the term glycerol is preferred. Glycerol is an important component of triglycerides (i.e. fats and oils) and of phospholipids. When the body uses stored fat as a source of energy, glycerol and fatty acids are released into the bloodstream. The glycerol component can be converted to glucose by the liver and provide energy for cellular metabolism.
A byproduct of saponification and transesterification to obtain biodiesel, this is produced by hydrolysisHydrolysis is a chemical process in which a molecule is cleaved into two parts by the addition of a molecule of water. This is distinct from a hydration reaction, in which water molecules are added to a substance, but no cleavage occurs. Types Hydrolysis of three esterFor the Biblical Ester, see Esther. For the town, see Ester, Alaska. In organic chemistry and biochemistry esters are substances that have the functional group Rī-COOR" (the carbon is double-bonded to one oxygen atom and single-bonded to another) and cons linkages and loss of three equivalents of fatty acidIn chemistry, especially biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid (or organic acid), often with a long aliphatic tail (long chains), either saturated or unsaturated. Most of the natural fatty acids have an even number of carbon atoms, because they from fat or biological oil.
Fats and oils are insoluble in water, because the OH groups of glycerine are replaced by esterFor the Biblical Ester, see Esther. For the town, see Ester, Alaska. In organic chemistry and biochemistry esters are substances that have the functional group Rī-COOR" (the carbon is double-bonded to one oxygen atom and single-bonded to another) and cons groups. They are hydrophobicIn chemistry, hydrophobic or lipophilic species, or hydrophobes, tend to be electrically neutral and nonpolar, and thus prefer other neutral and nonpolar solvents or molecular environments. Hydrophobic is often used interchangeably with "oily" or "lipophi (see also solubility of alcohol in water ).As a byproduct of biodiesel production, each of the OH sites in CH2-OH--CH-OH--CH2-OH is one of the three places where an ester is broken off the triglyceride molecule.
See: transesterification.