A review on the achievement of enzymatic glycerol carbonate production

High energy demand driven by decreasing fossil fuels, and global warming because of the burning of fossil fuels necessitates the utilization of renewable and clean energy. One of these renewable energy sources is biodiesel. The increasing trend of biodiesel over the last 20 years tends to result in increasing glycerol (Gly), which is produced during the biodiesel production in 10% ratio (w/w) as a by-product. Using Gly as raw material is an alternative way to produce bio-based new products such as glycerol carbonate (GlyC). GlyC is a value-added product of Gly/vegetable oil and this product can be used as a potential fuel additive in the future because of its high oxygen content. Furthermore, GlyC shows a high reactivity; therefore, it is a bio-based building block for complex chemicals. The present review gives information about the bio-catalytic synthesis of GlyC from Gly/vegetable oil and, dimethyl carbonate (DMC). In addition, the influencing parameters of this bio-catalytic GlyC synthesis are discussed and reviewed in this paper.