The key difference between nicotinic acid and nicotinamide is that nicotinic acid is useful in treating high cholesterol, whereas nicotinamide is useful in treating arthritis and pellagra.
Nicotinic acid and nicotinamide are closely similar in chemical structures. Nicotinamide contains an amide group that is notably absent in nicotinic acid. However, they have different applications.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Nicotinic Acid
3. What is Nicotinamide
4. Nicotinic Acid vs Nicotinamide in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Nicotinic Acid vs Nicotinamide
What is Nicotinic Acid?
Nicotinic acid is an organic compound having the chemical formula C6H5NO2. It appears as white and translucent crystals. Nicotinic acid is also known as niacin. This substance is a form of vitamin B3 and is also an essential human nutrient. We usually get nicotinic acid from food, including both whole and processed food. The food items that give us this compound includes fortified packaged food, meat, poultry, redfish (e.g., tuna, salmon), nuts, legumes, and seeds.
As a dietary supplement, nicotinic acid is useful in treating pellagra, which is a disease that occurs from the deficiency of niacin. The symptoms of this compound’s deficiency include lesions on the skin and mouth, anemia, headache, tiredness, etc.
Nicotinamide is the amide derivative of nicotinic acid. Therefore, we can use nicotinamide as a treatment for the deficiency of nicotinic acid. This is because nicotinamide can be administered in remedial amounts by not causing any flushing.
Nicotinic acid is a water-soluble solid that is a derivative of pyridine. It has a carboxyl group at the carbon-3 position. In the amide derivative nicotinamide, this carboxyl group is replaced by a carboxamide group.
What is Nicotinamide?
Nicotinamide can be described as an amide chemical compound having the functional group –C(=O)NH2. It is a form of vitamin B3 and is available in various food sources. For example, we can find this substance in yeast, meat, milk, and green vegetables. Nicotinamide is useful as a medication; we can use this substance orally to prevent and treat pellagra. Nicotinic acid or niacin is also useful as a substitute for this process, but unlike nicotinic acid, nicotinamide does not cause skin flushing. In its cream form, we can use this substance to treat acne. However, nicotinamide is an amide of nicotinic acid.
As a medication, nicotinamide has minimal side effects. However, when there are high doses of this substance inside the body, it can cause liver problems. According to research studies, normal doses are safe for use during pregnancy.
In the chemical structure of nicotinamide, there is a pyridine ring to which a primary amide group is attached in the meta position. We can categorize nicotinamide as an amide of nicotinic acid. It is an aromatic compound. Moreover, this compound can undergo electrophilic substitution reactions and transformations of its two functional groups.
What is the Difference Between Nicotinic Acid and Nicotinamide?
Nicotinic acid and nicotinamide are closely similar in chemical structures. Here, nicotinamide contains an amide group that is notably absent in nicotinic acid. The key difference between nicotinic acid and nicotinamide is that nicotinic acid is useful in treating high cholesterol, whereas nicotinamide is useful in treating arthritis and pellagra.
The below infographic presents the differences between nicotinic acid and nicotinamide in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.
Summary – Nicotinic Acid vs Nicotinamide
Nicotinic acid is an organic compound having the chemical formula C6H5NO2, while nicotinamide is an amide chemical compound having the functional group –C(=O)NH2. The key difference between nicotinic acid and nicotinamide is that nicotinic acid is useful in treating high cholesterol, whereas nicotinamide is useful in treating arthritis and pellagra.
Reference:
1. “Nicotinamide.” Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Image Courtesy:
1. “Niacin-3D-balls” By Jynto (talk) – This image was created with Discovery Studio Visualizer. (CC0) via Commons Wikimedia