The increase in biodiesel production has resulted in the oversupply of glycerol into the market. Purified and processed glycerol has found many direct applications in pharmaceuticals, food, etc. However, the cost of processing and market value of processed glycerol has driven the research of direct utilization of crude glycerol to industrially essential chemicals. Various methods and research have been devoted to using glycerol to produce value-added products separately. Glycerol can undergo several transformation reactions like hydrogenation, oxidation, alcoholysis, and etherification. Etherification of glycerol can be divided into three main reactions: self-etherification, using alcohol, and olefins and these products have vast applications such as fuel additives, plasticizer, etc. The current review presents a comprehensive summary of glycerol etherification to value-added products and their applications. The catalytic system developed along with reaction conditions and the factors responsible for the better activity is also discussed. Overall, the review presents a detailed discussion on the catalytic system developed, the utilization of different alcohols and olefins, and the application of products. Moreover, the environmental and economic aspects of the etherification of glycerol via various conversion routes while assessing the process parameters needs to be tackled to attain wider adoption of the process.

中文翻译：

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甘油催化醚化成增值产品综述

生物柴油产量的增加导致市场上的甘油供过于求。纯化和加工的甘油已在药品、食品等领域发现了许多直接应用。然而，加工成本和加工甘油的市场价值推动了将粗甘油直接用于工业必需化学品的研究。已经有各种方法和研究致力于使用甘油分别生产增值产品。甘油可以进行多种转化反应，如氢化、氧化、醇解和醚化。甘油的醚化反应主要分为自醚化、醇化、烯烃三个主要反应，这些产物在燃料添加剂、增塑剂等方面有着广泛的应用。本综述全面总结了甘油醚化对增值产品及其应用的影响。还讨论了随着反应条件发展的催化体系以及导致更好活性的因素。总体而言，该综述详细讨论了所开发的催化体系、不同醇和烯烃的利用以及产品的应用。此外，在评估工艺参数时，需要解决通过各种转化途径进行甘油醚化的环境和经济方面的问题，以实现该工艺的更广泛采用。该评论详细讨论了所开发的催化系统、不同醇和烯烃的利用以及产品的应用。此外，在评估工艺参数时，需要解决通过各种转化途径进行甘油醚化的环境和经济方面的问题，以实现该工艺的更广泛采用。该评论详细讨论了所开发的催化系统、不同醇和烯烃的利用以及产品的应用。此外，在评估工艺参数时，需要解决通过各种转化途径进行甘油醚化的环境和经济方面的问题，以实现该工艺的更广泛采用。