Difference Between Saccharin and Sucralose

The key difference between saccharin and sucralose is that saccharin is less sweet than sucralose.

Both saccharin and sucralose are useful as artificial sweeteners. We can compare these two substances with their chemical structures, properties, and their sweetness. Generally, saccharin can provide a sweetness that is about 300-400 sweeter than sugar, while sucralose can be about 400-700 times sweeter than sugar.

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Saccharin
3. What is Sucralose
4. Similarities – Saccharin and Sucralose
5. Saccharin vs Sucralose in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Saccharin vs Sucralose

What is Saccharin?

Saccharin is a type of artificial sweetener having no food energy. This substance is about 300-400 times sweeter than sucrose. However, it has a bitter or metallic aftertaste. An aftertaste refers to the taste intensity of a particular food that we may perceive immediately after the removal of that food from the mouth. This bitter or metallic aftertaste of saccharin can be tasted mainly at high concentrations.

Figure 01: The Chemical Structure of Saccharin

The chemical formula of saccharin is C7H5NO3S, and the molar mass is 183.18 g/mol. It appears as a white crystalline solid. Usually, saccharin is a heat-stable substance. In addition, it does not react with other ingredients in food, and similarly, it stores well. Often, we can use blends of saccharin with other sweeteners in order to compensate for the weaknesses and faults of other sweeteners.

We can produce saccharin in various different ways, including Remsen and Fahlberg method that starts with toluene. In this method, the sulfonation of toluene is done using chlorosulfonic acid, which gives the ortho and para-substituted sulfonyl chloride. Thereafter, the ortho form needs to be isolated from the mixture, and then it is converted into sulfonamide using ammonia. Finally, the oxidation of the methyl substituent tends to give the carboxylic acid, and it leads to cyclization, which results in saccharin free acid.

What is Sucralose?

Sucralose is an artificial sweetener compound that is useful as a sugar substitute. Usually, most of the ingested sucralose is not broken down inside our bodies. Therefore, we can name it a noncaloric substance. The E number for this food additive is E 955. Moreover, this sugar substitute is considered shelf-stable and a safe substance to be used at elevated temperatures.

Figure 02: The Chemical Structure of Sucralose

The chemical formula of sucralose is C12H19Cl3O8. The molar mass of this substance is 397.64 g/mol. It appears as an off-white to white powder and odorless as well. Sucralose can be named as a disaccharide compound that is synthesized through the selective chlorination of sucrose in a multistep route where three specific hydroxyl groups are substituted with chlorine atoms. Finally, the deprotection by hydrolysis of the ester is done to get the sucralose.

What are the Similarities Between Saccharin and Sucralose?

Saccharin and sucralose are artificial sweeteners.
Both are very sweeter than sugar.
These are noncaloric substances that are not broken down in our bodies.

What is the Difference Between Saccharin and Sucralose?

Saccharin is a type of artificial sweetener having no food energy, whereas sucralose is an artificial sweetener compound that is useful as a sugar substitute. The key difference between saccharin and sucralose is that saccharin is less sweet than sucralose. Generally, saccharin can provide a sweetness that is about 300-400 sweeter than sugar, while sucralose can be about 400-700 times sweeter than sugar.

The following table summarizes the difference between saccharin and sucralose.

Summary – Saccharin vs Sucralose

Both saccharin and sucralose are useful as artificial sweeteners. We can compare these two substances with their chemical structures, properties, and their sweetness. The key difference between saccharin and sucralose is that saccharin is less sweet than sucralose.

Reference:

1.“Saccharin.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Saccharin” By Harbin – Own work (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Haworth projection of sucralose” By Vaccinationist – Own work, based on PubChem (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia