Glycerol is the common name of the organic compound whose chemical structure is HOCH₂-CHOH- CH₂OH. Propane-1,2,3-triol or glycerin (USP), as it is also called, consists of a chain of three carbon atoms with each of the end carbon atoms bonded to two hydrogen atoms (C-H) and a hydroxyl group (-OH) and the central carbon atom is bonded to a hydrogen atom (C-H) and a hydroxyl group (-OH). Glycerol is a trihydric alcohol because it contains three hydroxyl or alcohol groups. Glycerin is a thick liquid with a sweet taste that is found in fats and oils and is the primary triglyceride found in coconut and olive oil. It was discovered in 1779, when the Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele (1742-1786) washed glycerol out of a heated a mixture of lead oxide (PbO) and olive oil. Today, it is obtained as a byproduct from the manufacture of...