Description
Acetyl-L-carnitine is offered as a crystalline solid for analytical and preparative laboratory work. The table reads left to right: the parameter, the value that belongs on the certificate, and the consequence that parameter has for someone weighing the material at the bench. See also our reagent-grade material: Lion's Mane / Soplówka Jeżowata / Hericium Erinace.
| Parameter | Value | Practical consequence in the laboratory |
|---|---|---|
| CAS registry number | 3040-38-8 | Identifies the inner salt form; the hydrochloride carries its own registry number and is a different item on the order. |
| Summary formula | C9H17NO4 | Used for elemental cross-checks and for interpreting the molecular ion in a mass spectrum. |
| Formula weight | 203.24 | The divisor when a weighed mass is converted into a molar amount; a salt form would demand a different figure. |
| Chemical character | Zwitterionic quaternary ammonium carboxylate | Explains poor retention on plain reversed-phase columns and the need for ion pairing or a polar-embedded phase. |
| Stereochemistry | Single L-configured stereocentre | Optical purity is a separate determination from chemical assay and must be requested explicitly. |
| Declared assay | Not less than 99 percent of the main component | Meaningful only next to the method that produced it, which the certificate has to name. |
| Appearance | White crystalline solid | Caking or discolouration is a reason to hold the batch and re-run identity before any further work. |
| Behaviour toward moisture | Markedly hygroscopic | Weigh quickly, reseal at once, and keep a desiccant in the storage container. |
| Water content | By Karl Fischer titration, per batch | Corrects the assay figure and explains mass drift between two weighings of the same portion. |
| Residual solvents | By headspace gas chromatography, per batch | Reported apart from organic related substances so the two are not silently added together. |
| Storage | Cool, dry, sealed, protected from light | Determines the retest interval printed on the label. |
| Documentation | Batch number, certificate of analysis, safety data sheet | Without the file the container is an unidentified solid, whatever the label claims. |
Two rows carry more weight than the rest. The first is the registry number, because the free inner salt and its hydrochloride share a common name in everyday speech and differ in molar mass, so a substitution silently shifts every calculated concentration. The second is hygroscopicity, which turns an unhurried weighing into a slowly rising balance reading and quietly biases the result.
Analytically the molecule is awkward for exactly the reason the third row states. It has no useful chromophore, so ultraviolet detection at the usual wavelengths is weak, and evaporative light scattering, charged aerosol or mass spectrometric detection tends to be the better route. Nuclear magnetic resonance settles the skeleton, while the ester linkage is the point to watch during method development because it is the bond that hydrolyses first under heat or extreme pH. See also our catalogue listing: L-Tyrosine / L-Tyrosine /Tyrosine Purity ≥ 99% 100.
Identity for a chiral compound is never closed by chromatography alone. Optical rotation measured under stated conditions, or separation on a chiral stationary phase, is what distinguishes the L-configured material from its enantiomer, and the value belongs on the batch certificate rather than on a catalogue page.
See also
- L-Tyrosine / L-Tyrosine /Tyrosine Purity ≥ 99% 1000mg
- Lion's Mane / Soplówka Jeżowata / Hericium Erinaceus < 10gram 99% spro
- Coluracetam, czystość substancji ≥ 99%, 1000mg
- Mebicar / Mebicar / Temgicoluril – 30x capsules 100mg. Purity ≥ 99%
Selected literature
Animal and in vitro studies indexed in PubMed; no human-use guidance is provided here.
- Pennisi M Acetyl-L-Carnitine in Dementia and Other Cognitive Disorders: A Critical Update 2020, Nutrients. PMID 32408706
- Ferreira GC L-Carnitine and Acetyl-L-carnitine Roles and Neuroprotection in Developing Brain 2017, Neurochemical research. PMID 28508995
- Sarzi-Puttini P Acetyl-L-carnitine in chronic pain: A narrative review 2021, Pharmacological research. PMID 34500063
- De Marchi F Acetyl-L-carnitine and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Current Evidence and Potential use 2024, CNS & neurological disorders drug targets. PMID 36998125
Material status. Any administration to humans is excluded. It is not a veterinary product either. It is a high-purity laboratory product for research using HPLC and GC-MS. Not a medicine, medical device or food product.
