Editing Glycerol (section)

===Synthetic glycerol===
Although more expensive than production from plant or animal triglycerides, glycerol can be synthesized by various routes.  During [[World War II]], synthetic glycerol processes became a national defense priority because it is a precursor to [[nitroglycerine]]. Epichlorohydrin is the most important precursor. [[Chlorination reaction|Chlorination]] of propylene gives [[allyl chloride]], which is oxidized with [[hypochlorite]] to [[dichlorohydrin]], which reacts with a strong base to give [[epichlorohydrin]]. Epichlorohydrin can be hydrolyzed to glycerol. [[Chlorine]]-free processes from propylene include the synthesis of glycerol from [[acrolein]] and [[propylene oxide]].<ref name="Ullmann" />
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