The key difference between magnesium glycinate and magnesium bisglycinate is that magnesium glycinate is the common name, whereas magnesium bisglycinate is the accurate chemical name for the same compound having the chemical formula C4H8MgN2O4.
Both names, magnesium glycinate and magnesium bisglycinate, refer to the same chemical compound. The name bisglycinate accurately describe the structure of the compound because this compound has one magnesium ion in association with two glycinate ions.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Magnesium Glycinate
3. What is Magnesium Bisglycinate
4. Side by Side Comparison – Magnesium Glycinate vs Magnesium Bisglycinate in Tabular Form
5. Summary
What is Magnesium Glycinate ?
Magnesium glycinate is the common name for the compound having the chemical formula C4H8MgN2O4. It has one magnesium ion (Mg+2) in association with two glycinate ions. The molecular weight is 172.42 g/mol.
Figure 01: Glycinate Ion
Furthermore, magnesium glycinate is the magnesium salt of glycine. Glycine is an amino acid. Therefore, this compound is sold as a dietary supplement. The compound contains about 14.1% of magnesium by mass. Hence, 709 mg of magnesium glycinate contains 100 mg of magnesium, which makes this an effective dietary supplement. Magnesium is important for us because it can activate over 600 enzymes in our body. Moreover, it is essential for DNA and RNA synthesis.
What is Magnesium Bisglycinate?
Magnesium bisglycinate is the accurate chemical name for the compound having the chemical formula C4H8MgN2O4. The name implies that the compound has one magnesium ion in association with two glycinate ions because there is the prefix “-bis” in the name. The prefix is sometimes given as “-bi” (another common prefix to say there are two ions).
What is the Difference Between Magnesium Glycinate and Magnesium Bisglycinate?
The key difference between magnesium glycinate and magnesium bisglycinate is that magnesium glycinate is the common name whereas magnesium bisglycinate is the accurate chemical name for the same compound having the chemical formula C4H8MgN2O4. When considering the names, magnesium glycinate indicates that this compound has magnesium and glycinate ions, while the “bi” in magnesium bisglycinate indicates that the compound has one magnesium ion and two glycinate ions.
Summary – Magnesium Glycinate vs Magnesium Bisglycinate
The key difference between magnesium glycinate and magnesium bisglycinate is that magnesium glycinate is the common name, while magnesium bisglycinate is the accurate chemical name for the same compound having the chemical formula C4H8MgN2O4.
Reference:
1. “Magnesium Glycinate.” National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem Compound Database, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Available here.
Image Courtesy:
1. “Glycinate” By Fvasconcellos (talk · contribs), original PNG by Petergans – Vector version of File:Glycinate.png. (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia