L-Ascorbic acid, compd. with 1-((1-phenylcyclohexyl)acetyl)-4-(2-phenylethyl)piperazine

BeschreibungAscorbic acid is a naturally occurring organic compound with antioxidant properties. It is a white solid, but impure samples can appear yellowish. It dissolves well in water to give mildly acidic solutions. Ascorbic acid is one form ("vitamer") of vitamin C. It was originally called L-hexuronic acid, but when it was found to have vitamin C activity in animals ("vitamin C" being defined as a vitamin activity, not then a specific substance), the suggestion was made to rename L-hexuronic acid. The new name for L-hexuronic acid is derived from a- (meaning "no") and scorbutus (scurvy), the disease caused by a deficiency of vitamin C. Because it is derived from glucose, many animals are able to produce it, but humans require it as part of their nutrition. Other vertebrates lacking the ability to produce ascorbic acid include other primates, guinea pigs, teleost fishes, bats,and birds, all of which require it as a dietary micronutrient (that is, a vitamin).

OccurrenceReported found in rose hip, black currants, the juice of citrus fruits and the ripe fruit of Capsicum annuum L.

HistoryFrom the middle of the 18th century, it was noted that lemon juice could prevent sailors from getting scurvy. At first, it was supposed that the acid properties were responsible for this benefit; however, it soon became clear that other dietary acids, such as vinegar, had no such benefits. In 1907, two Norwegian physicians reported an essential disease-preventing compound in foods that was distinct from the one that prevented beriberi. These physicians were investigating dietary deficiency diseases using the new animal model of guinea pigs, which are susceptible to scurvy. The newly discovered food-factor was eventually called vitamin C.From 1928 to 1932, the Hungarian research team led by Albert Szent-Gyrgyi, as well as that of the American researcher Charles Glen King, identified the antiscorbutic factor as a particular single chemical substance. At the Mayo clinic, Szent-Gyrgyi had isolated the chemical hexuronic acid from animal adrenal glands. He suspected it to be the antiscorbutic factor, but could not prove it without a biological assay. This assay was finally conducted at the University of Pittsburgh in the laboratory of King, which had been working on the problem for years, using guinea pigs. In late 1931, King's lab obtained adrenal hexuronic acid indirectly from Szent-Gyrgyi and using their animal model, proved that it is vitamin C, by early 1932.

VerwendenVitamin (antiscorbutic); acidifier (urinary).