- Glycerolysis
In
organic chemistry , Glycerolysis is the process of breaking a chemical bond with the use ofglycerin . These reactions are often catalyzed by the addition of anacid orbase . Glycerolysis is a special case oftransesterification .The process may be used for synthesizing emulsifiers or lipophilic surfactants from simple
esters , fats,triglyceride s,carboxylic acid anhydride s, orfree fatty acids . The process is used to makemonoglyceride s anddiglyceride s, and, in rare cases,polymers (whenDicarboxylic acid s are used).For example, a methyl ester will react with glycerol to make mono- and diglycerides, with
methanol as a byproduct;distillation of the methanol drives the reaction to completion.The reverse of this process, breaking apart to release glycerin, is
saponification orhydrolysis if water is used and istransesterification if a differentalcohol or glycol is used.See Also
*
Hydrolysis
*Saponification
*Transesterification
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