Folic acid and sodium folate salts: Thermal behavior and spectroscopic (IR, Raman, and solid-state 13 C NMR) characterization.

Folic acid (FA; vitamin B9) and its associated sodium salts, strongly relevant for many scientific and technological applications - from nutrition to pharmacology and nanomedicine, suffer from a lack of characterization combining experimental and theoretical. In this work, a spectroscopic investigation of FA and its synthesized sodium salts in the form of dianion (Na ₂ HFol) or trianion (Na ₃ Fol) was scrutinized in their solid state. The spectroscopic (infrared, Raman, and solid state ¹³ C-nuclear magnetic resonance) data interpretation was supported by theoretical calculations using the Density Functional Theory (DFT). Additionally, the compounds were characterized by UV-VIS diffuse-reflectance spectroscopy, combined thermal analysis (TG/DTG-DSC) coupled to mass spectrometry, and X-ray diffractometry. The main signatures of each species were identified, as well as the influence of the protonation level on their physicochemical properties. These distinct properties for the three compounds are mainly based on signals assigned to glutamic acid (glutamate) and pterin (neutral or anionic) moieties. This work should help developing new products based on FA or its anionic forms, such as theragnostic/drug delivery systems, supramolecular structures, nanocarbons, or metal complexes.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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