Tag: Excipients
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History of xylitol
Emil Fischer, a German chemistry professor, and his assistant Rudolf Stahel isolated a new compound from beech wood chips in September 1890 and named it Xylit, the German word for xylitol. The following year, the French chemist M.G. Bertrand isolated xylitol syrup by processing wheat and oat straw. Sugar rationing during World War II led to an interest in sugar substitutes.…
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Xylitol
Xylitol is a chemical compound with the formula C5H12O5, or HO(CH2)(CHOH)3(CH2)OH; specifically, one particular stereoisomer with that structural formula. It is a colorless or white crystalline solid that is freely soluble in water. It can be classified as a polyalcohol and a sugar alcohol, specifically an alditol. The name derives from Ancient Greek: ξύλον, xyl[on] ‘wood’, with the suffix -itol used to denote sugar alcohols. Xylitol is used as a food additive and sugar substitute. Its European…