Catalysis for Glycerol Production and Its Applications

Globally, there is a climate change due to greenhouse gases, hence the production processes for chemicals should comply with green chemistry principles to decrease the impact it has on the climate. This book chapter focuses on the catalytic production of glycerol, which is a platform chemical that is widely used in the manufacture of various industrially important chemicals and derivatives, namely 2,3-dihydroxypropanal, glycerol ether, glycerol ester, acrolein, 1,2-propanediol and glycidol. The literature reviewed compares the production of glycerol using homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts, to determine efficient and environmentally benign glycerol catalysts and to study glycerol as a platform chemical and its value in application.