<<Up     Contents

Glycerine

Glycerine is a chemical compound with three carbon atoms, each carrying an alcohol (-OH) substituent[?].

A byproduct of saponification[?], this clear, slippery liquid is produced by hydrolysis of three ester linkages and loss of three equivalents of fatty acid from fat or biological oil.

    H
    |
    |
 H--C--OH
    | H
    |/
 H--C--OH
    |
    |
 H--C--OH
    |    
    |
    H

or

    CH2-OH
    |
    CH2-OH
    |
    CH2-OH

wikipedia.org dumped 2003-03-17 with terodump