This 3-carbon diol is a colorless viscous liquid that is miscible with water.

It is mainly used as a building block in the production of polymers such as polytrimethylene terephthalate.

[2] 1,3-Propanediol can be formulated into a variety of industrial products including composites, adhesives, laminates, coatings, moldings, aliphatic polyesters, and copolyesters.

An alternative route involves the hydroformylation of ethylene oxide to form 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde.

[2] Two other routes involve bioprocessing by certain micro-organisms: 1,3-Propanediol does not appear to pose a significant hazard via inhalation of either the vapor or a vapor/aerosol mixture.