Glycerol

Glycerol is the simplest alkane triol. It was historically called glycerine (or glycerin), but that name is misleading because the -ine suffix denotes an amine, not an alcohol.

Pioneering Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele reported the discovery of glycerol in a 1783 article titled “Findings concerning a particular sweet substance in expressed oils and fatty substances”. In doing so, he established that glycerol is sweet-tasting and that it is the alcohol portion of natural mono-, di-, and triglyceride esters.¹

Glycerol/glycerine/glycerin appears in some 330,000 references listed in Chemical Abstracts Service’s SciFinderⁿ. The earliest citations are from 1878, in an article titled “A new test for glycerin” and in patents titled “Manufacture of pigments” and “Frees lime saccharate from salts and coloring matters”.

Glycerol can be synthesized from propylene through intermediates such as epichlorohydrin, acrolein, or propylene oxide. But for economic reasons, almost all commercial glycerol comes from hydrolyzing glycerides in natural fats, especially since the advent of using fatty acids to make biodiesel fuels. Some now-inexpensive glycerol is used as a raw material for producing epichlorohydrin and acrolein.

Glycerol has myriad uses in foods, pharmaceuticals, personal-care products, antifreezes, inks, lubricants, industrial lubricants, and many more. It is a key starting material for preparing nitroglycerol². As long ago as 1945, a book by Georgia Leffingwell and Milton A. Lesser titled Glycerin, Its Industrial and Commercial Applications listed 1583 specific uses³ of the compound.

Finally, glycerol is the base ingredient in commonly used face paints, as described in the facepaint.com blog. It is the medium in which the paint pigments are dispersed. If you paint your face for Halloween, Mardi Gras, or your favorite team’s game, give a shout-out for glycerol.

1. Similarly to the preference for glycerol over glycerine, one might conjecture that glycerides should be called “glycerates” to conform with ester nomenclature.—Ed.
2. CAS Reg. No. 55-63-0.
3. The last four uses in the list are: 1580, poison gas indicators; 1581, skin protection against mustard gas; 1582, tattoo mark removal; and 1583, telephone mouthpiece.