Glycerin

Glycerin

Glycerin is a type of carbohydrate known as a sugar alcohol or a polyol. This odorless liquid has a sweet taste and a syrupy consistency. While glycerin occurs naturally in plants through the fermentation of sugars, most of the glycerin nowadays is produced from the hydrolysis of fats and oils.

Glycerol (/ˈɡlɪsərɒl/),   also called glycerine or glycerin, is a simple  triol  compound. It is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid that is sweet-tasting and non-toxic.It is also widely used as a sweetener in the food industry and as a humectant in pharmaceutical formulations. Because of its three hydroxyl groups, glycerol is miscible with water and is hygroscopic in nature.

Structure

Although achiral, glycerol is  prochiral  with respect to reactions of one of the two primary alcohols. Thus, in substituted derivatives, the stereospecific numbering labels the molecule with a sn- prefix before the stem name of the molecule.

Production

Glycerol is generally obtained from plant and animal sources where it occurs in triglycerides, esters of glycerol with long-chain carboxylic acids. The hydrolysis, saponification, or  transesterification  of these triglycerides produces glycerol as well as the fatty acid derivative: