An industrial chemical found in antifreeze, de-icing fluids, and liquid detergents could soon stand alongside animal feeds, sweeteners and cooking oil as a commercial product made from corn.

Randy Cortright and James Dumesic, chemical engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, have invented a catalytic process for converting the corn-derived compound, lactic acid, into the chemical polypropylene glycol. More than 450 MT of polypropylene glycol are used in the United States annually.