RE: Cool Science-y Tidbits
May 30, 2019 at 3:47 pm
(This post was last modified: May 30, 2019 at 3:49 pm by BrianSoddingBoru4.)
The Vitamin That Almost Wasn't
Nicotine, one of the deadlier alkaloid poisons, consists of two rings of atoms. In 1873, Austrian chemist Hugo Weidel found that if he treated a nicotine molecule with nitric acid, the two rings would break apart. The larger resultant ring he named 'nicotinic acid', because an acid group from the nitric acid shamelessly attached itself. No one, however, realized that nicotinic acid was a vitamin until 1937, when Conrad Elvehjem used it to cure blacktongue in dogs and pellagra in humans. At this point, it was re-named 'nicotinic acid vitamin'.
But the fun wasn't over. As an easy way to combat pellagra, American flour companies began enriching wheat flour with the chemical and (of course) the press began running headlines such as 'Tobacco In Your Food!' and flour consumption dropped like a paralyzed falcon. In response, a third name for the molecule was chosen: nicotinic acid vitamin - niacin. This was done to disabuse people of the different (but connected) notions that 1) there was nicotine in their flour, and 2) there are vitamins in cigarettes.
Stupid consumers.
Boru
Nicotine, one of the deadlier alkaloid poisons, consists of two rings of atoms. In 1873, Austrian chemist Hugo Weidel found that if he treated a nicotine molecule with nitric acid, the two rings would break apart. The larger resultant ring he named 'nicotinic acid', because an acid group from the nitric acid shamelessly attached itself. No one, however, realized that nicotinic acid was a vitamin until 1937, when Conrad Elvehjem used it to cure blacktongue in dogs and pellagra in humans. At this point, it was re-named 'nicotinic acid vitamin'.
But the fun wasn't over. As an easy way to combat pellagra, American flour companies began enriching wheat flour with the chemical and (of course) the press began running headlines such as 'Tobacco In Your Food!' and flour consumption dropped like a paralyzed falcon. In response, a third name for the molecule was chosen: nicotinic acid vitamin - niacin. This was done to disabuse people of the different (but connected) notions that 1) there was nicotine in their flour, and 2) there are vitamins in cigarettes.
Stupid consumers.
Boru
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax
