Sarcosine

Sarcosine is N-methylglycine, 2-(methylamino)acetic acid, CAS 107-97-1, EC 203-538-6, C3H7NO2, molecular weight 89.09. It is glycine carrying a methyl group on the nitrogen, and it occurs naturally as an intermediate and by-product of glycine synthesis and degradation, sitting on the pathway that converts choline through to glycine; normal human serum runs at roughly 1.4 micromolar. The name comes from the Greek for flesh because it was first isolated from muscle, and that is exactly why the origin declaration matters commercially: the commercial article is not an animal extract. It is manufactured synthetically, industrially from esters of chloroacetic acid and in the laboratory from chloroacetic acid and methylamine, which makes it suitable for vegan and vegetarian formulations and free of the animal and dairy allergen questions the name invites. Physically it is a white crystalline powder with a sweet taste, melting at 208-212 C, density about 1.093 g/mL, and it is exceptionally water soluble at around 1480 g/L at 20 C, so it dissolves easily in drink powders and liquid concentrates where most amino acids do not. The carboxyl pKa is about 2.21 and the amino pKa about 10.2, giving a zwitterion across the ordinary beverage pH range. It is deliquescent, which is the one real handling constraint: bags and drums must be resealed immediately, stored dry, and warmed to room temperature before opening in humid conditions or the powder will cake. Standard grade assays 98.0% minimum by titration, with a 99.0% minimum HPLC grade carrying tightened moisture, heavy metal and microbial limits for supplement use. Two very different buyer groups take this material. The larger volume goes into surfactant chemistry, where sarcosine is acylated to make the sarcosinate family, sodium lauroyl sarcosinate, cocoyl and oleoyl sarcosinates, used as mild foaming and cleansing agents in toothpaste, shampoo, shaving foam and facial wash, and N-lauroylsarcosine as a biochemical detergent. The smaller volume goes into nutraceutical capsule and powder blends and into fine chemical synthesis as a methylated glycine building block and buffer component. Thovek supplies it on composition and specification alone: we state what the molecule is, how it is made and how each lot is controlled, and make no therapeutic, neurological or disease claim. The brand owner remains responsible for finished-product claims and for confirming that sarcosine is a permitted supplement ingredient in the destination market.