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l-Ascorbic acid

Names
IUPAC name (5R)--3,4-dihydroxyfuran-2(5H)-one
Other names Vitamin C
Identifiers
CAS Number	50-81-7
3D model (JSmol)	Interactive image Interactive image
ChEBI	CHEBI:29073
ChEMBL	ChEMBL196
ChemSpider	10189562
EC Number	200-066-2
E number	E300 (antioxidants, ...)
IUPHAR/BPS	4781
KEGG	D00018
PubChem CID	5785
UNII	PQ6CK8PD0R
InChI InChI=1S/C6H8O6/c7-1-2(8)5-3(9)4(10)6(11)12-5/h2,5,7-10H,1H2/t2-,5+/m0/s1Key: CIWBSHSKHKDKBQ-JLAZNSOCSA-N
SMILES OC=1C(OC(=O)C=1O)(O)CO C((1C(=C(C(=O)O1)O)O)O)O
Properties
Chemical formula	C6H8O6
Molar mass	176.124 g·mol
Appearance	White or light yellow solid
Density	1.65 g/cm
Melting point	190 to 192 °C (374 to 378 °F; 463 to 465 K) decomposes
Solubility in water	330 g/L
Solubility	Insoluble in diethyl ether, chloroform, benzene, petroleum ether, oils, fats
Solubility in ethanol	20 g/L
Solubility in glycerol	10 g/L
Solubility in propylene glycol	50 g/L
Acidity (pKa)	4.10 (first), 11.6 (second)
Pharmacology
ATC code	A11GA01 (WHO) G01AD03 (WHO), S01XA15 (WHO)
Hazards
NFPA 704 (fire diamond)	1 1 0
Lethal dose or concentration (LD, LC):
LD50 (median dose)	11.9 g/kg (oral, rat)
Safety data sheet (SDS)	JT Baker
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C , 100 kPa). N verify (what is  ?) Infobox references

Ascorbic acid is an organic compound with formula C
₆H
₈O
₆, originally called hexuronic acid. It is a white solid, but impure samples can appear yellowish. It dissolves freely in water to give mildly acidic solutions. It is a mild reducing agent.

Ascorbic acid exists as two enantiomers (mirror-image isomers), commonly denoted "l" (for "levo") and "d" (for "dextro"). The l isomer is the one most often encountered: it occurs naturally in many foods, and is one form ("vitamer") of vitamin C, an essential nutrient for humans and many animals. Deficiency of vitamin C causes scurvy, formerly a major disease of sailors in long sea voyages. It is used as a food additive and a dietary supplement for its antioxidant properties. The "d" form can be made via chemical synthesis, but has no significant biological role.

History

The antiscorbutic properties of certain foods were demonstrated in the 18th century by James Lind. In 1907, Axel Holst and Theodor Frølich discovered that the antiscorbutic factor was a water-soluble chemical substance, distinct from the one that prevented beriberi. Between 1928 and 1932, Albert Szent-Györgyi isolated a candidate for this substance, which he called it "hexuronic acid", first from plants and later from animal adrenal glands. In 1932 Charles Glen King confirmed that it was indeed the antiscorbutic factor.

In 1933, sugar chemist Walter Norman Haworth, working with samples of "hexuronic acid" that Szent-Györgyi had isolated from paprika and sent him in the previous year, deduced the correct structure and optical-isomeric nature of the compound, and in 1934 reported its first synthesis. In reference to the compound's antiscorbutic properties, Haworth and Szent-Györgyi proposed to rename it "a-scorbic acid" for the compound, and later specifically l-ascorbic acid. Because of their work, in 1937 two Nobel Prizes: in Chemistry and in Physiology or Medicine were awarded to Haworth and Szent-Györgyi, respectively.

Chemical properties

Acidity

Ascorbic acid is a furan-based lactone of 2-ketogluconic acid. It contains an adjacent enediol adjacent to the carbonyl. This −C(OH)=C(OH)−C(=O)− structural pattern is characteristic of reductones, and increases the acidity of one of the enol hydroxyl groups. The deprotonated conjugate base is the ascorbate anion, which is stabilized by electron delocalization that results from resonance between two forms:

For this reason, ascorbic acid is much more acidic than would be expected if the compound contained only isolated hydroxyl groups.

Salts

The ascorbate anion forms salts, such as sodium ascorbate, calcium ascorbate, and potassium ascorbate.

Esters

Ascorbic acid can also react with organic acids as an alcohol forming esters such as ascorbyl palmitate and ascorbyl stearate.

Nucleophilic attack

Nucleophilic attack of ascorbic acid on a proton results in a 1,3-diketone:

Oxidation

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The ascorbate ion is the predominant species at typical biological pH values. It is a mild reducing agent and antioxidant, typically reacting with oxidants of the reactive oxygen species, such as the hydroxyl radical.

Reactive oxygen species are damaging to animals and plants at the molecular level due to their possible interaction with nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids. Sometimes these radicals initiate chain reactions. Ascorbate can terminate these chain radical reactions by electron transfer. The oxidized forms of ascorbate are relatively unreactive and do not cause cellular damage.

Ascorbic acid and its sodium, potassium, and calcium salts are commonly used as antioxidant food additives. These compounds are water-soluble and, thus, cannot protect fats from oxidation: For this purpose, the fat-soluble esters of ascorbic acid with long-chain fatty acids (ascorbyl palmitate or ascorbyl stearate) can be used as antioxidant food additives.

Ascorbate readily donates a hydrogen atom to free radicals, forming the radical anion semidehydroascorbate (also known as monodehydroascorbate), a resonance-stabilized semitrione:

C₆H₇O−6 + L• → C₆H₆O₆ + LH

Loss of an electron from semidehydroascorbate to produce the 1,2,3-tricarbonyl pseudodehydroascorbate is thermodynamically disfavored, which helps prevent propagation of free radical chain reactions such as autoxidation:

C₆H₆O₆ + O₂ ${\displaystyle \not \rightarrow }$ C₆H₆O₆ + O₂

However, being a good electron donor, excess ascorbate in the presence of free metal ions can not only promote but also initiate free radical reactions, thus making it a potentially dangerous pro-oxidative compound in certain metabolic contexts.

Semidehydroascorbate oxidation instead occurs in conjunction with hydration, yielding the bicyclic hemiketal dehydroascorbate. In particular, semidehydroascorbate undergoes disproportionation to ascorbate and dehydroascorbate:

C₆H₆O₆ + L• + H₂O + H → C₆H₈O₇ + LH

2 C₆H₆O₆ + H₂O + H → C₆H₈O₇ + C₆H₇O−6

Aqueous solutions of dehydroascorbate are unstable, undergoing hydrolysis with a half-life of 5–15 minutes at 37 °C (99 °F). Decomposition products include diketogulonic acid, xylonic acid, threonic acid and oxalic acid.

Other reactions

It creates volatile compounds when mixed with glucose and amino acids at 90 °C.

It is a cofactor in tyrosine oxidation.

Uses

Food additive

The main use of l-ascorbic acid and its salts is as food additives, mostly to combat oxidation. It is approved for this purpose in the EU with E number E300, the US, Australia, and New Zealand.

Dietary supplement

Another major use of l-ascorbic acid is as a dietary supplement. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines.

Niche, non-food uses

• Ascorbic acid is easily oxidized and so is used as a reductant in photographic developer solutions (among others) and as a preservative.
• In fluorescence microscopy and related fluorescence-based techniques, ascorbic acid can be used as an antioxidant to increase fluorescent signal and chemically retard dye photobleaching.
• It is also commonly used to remove dissolved metal stains, such as iron, from fiberglass swimming pool surfaces.
• In plastic manufacturing, ascorbic acid can be used to assemble molecular chains more quickly and with less waste than traditional synthesis methods.
• Heroin users are known to use ascorbic acid as a means to convert heroin base to a water-soluble salt so that it can be injected.
• As justified by its reaction with iodine, it is used to negate the effects of iodine tablets in water purification. It reacts with the sterilized water, removing the taste, color, and smell of the iodine. This is why it is often sold as a second set of tablets in most sporting goods stores as Potable Aqua-Neutralizing Tablets, along with the potassium iodide tablets.
• Intravenous high-dose ascorbate is being used as a chemotherapeutic and biological response modifying agent. It is undergoing clinical trials.
• It is sometimes used as a urinary acidifier to enhance the antiseptic effect of methenamine.

Synthesis

Natural biosynthesis of vitamin C occurs through various processes in many plants and animals.

Industrial preparation

Seventy percent of the world's supply of ascorbic acid is produced in China. Ascorbic acid is prepared in industry from glucose in a method based on the historical Reichstein process. In the first of a five-step process, glucose is catalytically hydrogenated to sorbitol, which is then oxidized by the microorganism Acetobacter suboxydans to sorbose. Only one of the six hydroxy groups is oxidized by this enzymatic reaction. From this point, two routes are available. Treatment of the product with acetone in the presence of an acid catalyst converts four of the remaining hydroxyl groups to acetals. The unprotected hydroxyl group is oxidized to the carboxylic acid by reaction with the catalytic oxidant TEMPO (regenerated by sodium hypochlorite – bleaching solution). Historically, industrial preparation via the Reichstein process used potassium permanganate as the bleaching solution. Acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of this product performs the dual function of removing the two acetal groups and ring-closing lactonization. This step yields ascorbic acid. Each of the five steps has a yield larger than 90%.

A biotechnological process, first developed in China in the 1960s but further developed in the 1990s, bypassing acetone-protecting groups. A second genetically modified microbe species, such as mutant Erwinia, among others, oxidises sorbose into 2-ketogluconic acid (2-KGA), which can then undergo ring-closing lactonization via dehydration. This method is used in the predominant process used by the ascorbic acid industry in China, which supplies 70% of the world's ascorbic acid. Researchers are exploring means for one-step fermentation.

Determination

The traditional way to analyze the ascorbic acid content is by titration with an oxidizing agent, and several procedures have been developed.

The popular iodometry approach uses iodine in the presence of a starch indicator. Iodine is reduced by ascorbic acid, and when all the ascorbic acid has reacted, the iodine is in excess, forming a blue-black complex with the starch indicator. This indicates the end-point of the titration.

As an alternative, ascorbic acid can be treated with iodine in excess, followed by back titration with sodium thiosulfate using starch as an indicator.

This iodometric method has been revised to exploit the reaction of ascorbic acid with iodate and iodide in acid solution. Electrolyzing the potassium iodide solution produces iodine, which reacts with ascorbic acid. The end of the process is determined by potentiometric titration like Karl Fischer titration. The amount of ascorbic acid can be calculated by Faraday's law.

Another alternative uses N-bromosuccinimide (NBS) as the oxidizing agent in the presence of potassium iodide and starch. The NBS first oxidizes the ascorbic acid; when the latter is exhausted, the NBS liberates the iodine from the potassium iodide, which then forms the blue-black complex with starch.

See also

• Colour retention agent
• Erythorbic acid: a diastereomer of ascorbic acid.
• Mineral ascorbates: salts of ascorbic acid
• Acids in wine

References

1. Safety (MSDS) data for ascorbic acid. University of Oxford
2. Story of Vitamin C's chemical discovery. Profiles.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved on 2012-12-04.
3. Davies MB, Austin J, Partridge DA (1991). Vitamin C: Its Chemistry and Biochemistry. The Royal Society of Chemistry. p. 48. ISBN 0-85186-333-7.
4. Svirbelf JL, Szent-Györgyi A (April 25, 1932). "The Chemical Nature Of Vitamin C" (PDF). Science. 75 (1944): 357–8. Bibcode:1932Sci....75..357K. doi:10.1126/science.75.1944.357-a. PMID 17750032. S2CID 33277683.. Part of the National Library of Medicine collection. Accessed January 2007
5. ^ Njus D, Kelley PM, Tu YJ, Schlegel HB (November 2020). "Ascorbic acid: The chemistry underlying its antioxidant properties". Free Radical Biology and Medicine. 159: 37–43. doi:10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2020.07.013.
6. Gaonkar AG, McPherson A (2016-04-19). Ingredient Interactions: Effects on Food Quality, Second Edition. CRC Press. ISBN 9781420028133.
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8. Seck, S., Crouzet, J. (1981). "Formation of Volatile Compounds in Sugar-Phenylalanine and Ascorbic Acid-Phenylalanine Model Systems during Heat Treatment". Journal of Food Science. 46 (3): 790–793. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2621.1981.tb15349.x.
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17. "The Riordan IVC Protocol for Adjunctive Cancer Care: Intravenous Ascorbate as a Chemotherapeutic and Biological Response Modifying Agent" (PDF). Riordan Clinic Research Institut. February 2013. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
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Further reading

• Clayden J, Greeves N, Warren S, Wothers P (2001). Organic Chemistry. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-850346-6.
• Davies MB, Austin J, Partridge DA (1991). Vitamin C: Its Chemistry and Biochemistry. Royal Society of Chemistry. ISBN 0-85186-333-7.
• Coultate TP (1996). Food: The Chemistry of Its Components (3rd ed.). Royal Society of Chemistry. ISBN 0-85404-513-9.
• Gruenwald J, Brendler T, Jaenicke C, eds. (2004). PDR for Herbal Medicines (3rd ed.). Montvale, New Jersey: Thomson PDR. ISBN 9781563635120.
• McMurry J (2008). Organic Chemistry (7e ed.). Thomson Learning. ISBN 978-0-495-11628-8.

External links

• International Chemical Safety Card 0379
• SIDS Initial Assessment Report for L-Ascorbic acid from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
• IPCS Poisons Information Monograph (PIM) 046
• Interactive 3D-structure of vitamin C with details on the x-ray structure

• Organic acids
• Antioxidants
• Dietary antioxidants
• Coenzymes
• Corrosion inhibitors
• Furanones
• Vitamers
• Vitamin C
• Biomolecules
• 3-Hydroxypropenals