∞ generated and posted on 2016.12.30 ∞
Three-carbon, hydrocarbon-based molecule that has one hydrogen per carbon that has been replaced by a hydroxyl group.
| Glycerol is an organic molecule with as many carbons as there are alcohol groups, making it a tri-alcohol, which in turn makes Glycerol the underlying basis of both the 'tri-' and '-glyceride' parts of triglyceride. |
Three fatty acids combine with a single glycerol molecule, via dehydration synthesis, to produce a single triglyceride (fat). Two fatty acids plus glycerol in combination with a phosphate-containing group combine to produce phospholipid.
Figure legend: Glycerol is a molecule consisting of three carbons and three hydroxyl groups, with each carbon bonded to one hydroxyl (and otherwise bonded to hydrogen atoms). Shown are two views of glycerol, neither of which properly depicts the three-dimensional nature of the molecule.
Glycerol itself can be converted, by the liver, to glucose in a process known as gluconeogenesis.