Ascorbic acid

Ascorbic acid is an organic acid with antioxidant properties. Its appearance is white to light yellow crystals or powder. It is water soluble. The L-enantiomer of ascorbic acid is commonly known as vitamin C. The name is derived from a- and scorbuticus (Scurvy) as a shortage of this molecule may lead to scurvy. In 1937 the Nobel Prize for chemistry was awarded to Walter Haworth for his work in determining the structure of ascorbic acid (shared with Paul Karrer, who received his award for work on vitamins), and the prize for Physiology or Medicine that year went to Albert Szent-Györgyi for his studies of the biological functions of L-ascorbic acid. At the time of its discovery in the 1920s it was called hexuronic acid by some researchers.