The Difference between Natural Vitamin E and Synthetic Vitamin E
Apr 15, 2021
The Difference between Natural Vitamin E and Synthetic Vitamin E（Ⅰ）
We have talked about how to distinguish natural vitamin E and synthetic vitamin E, so you maybe wonder why we need to distinguish between natural vitamin E and synthetic vitamin E. Both natural vitamin E and synthetic vitamin E can be used as antioxidants and nutritional supplements. Therefore, this article will elaborate on the difference between natural vitamin E and synthetic vitamin E. We will divide these differences into four points.
1.The difference of chirality.
Synthetic vitamin E is formed by the condensation of trimethylhydroquinone and isophytol, the structure of vitamin E synthesis is as follows.
According to the structural formula of vitamin E, there are three chiral carbons and a total of 8 optical isomers.
Synthetic vitamin E is composed of these 8 optical isomers in equal amounts, and each optical isomer accounts for 12.5%, so synthetic vitamin E is racemic, that is, DL-type. These 8 optical isomers can be labeled as: RRR- RRS RSS- RSR- SRR SSR- SRS- SSS-
Natural vitamin E is of the RRR-, that is, the D-, which is a dextrorotatory form, which is one of the above-mentioned eight optical isomers.
Therefore, looking at natural vitamin E from a chiral perspective, natural vitamin E is purer than synthetic vitamin E.
2.The differences in biological activity.
The eight optical isomers of vitamin E have different biological activities. Among them, the RRR-, that is, the biological activity of natural vitamin E is the highest. If the biological activity of the RRR- vitamin E is recorded as 100, the others The biological activities of the seven optical isomers are:
RRR: 100 RRS: 90 RSS: 73 RSR: 57 SSS: 60 SRS: 37 SRS: 31 SSR: 21.
From the above, we can see that the biological activity of natural vitamin E is higher than that of synthetic vitamin E.
Considering the length of the article, let’s first describe the two differences. In next article, we will introduce the difference between the two in terms of bioavailability and safety.