Pantothenic Acid

Compound	Pantothenic acid (vitamin B5)
Chemical class	Pantoic acid amide of beta-alanine — free acid is a viscous oil
CAS	79-83-4 (D-pantothenic acid) · 137-08-6 (calcium D-pantothenate)
Salt equivalence	Calcium D-pantothenate 476.53 g/mol → ~92.0% pantothenic acid
Chirality rule	Only the D-(+)- form is active; the L- form is inert, so racemate halves potency
Active cofactors	Coenzyme A and acyl carrier protein — all acyl transfer chemistry
Claim strength	High for the CoA role and salt chemistry; Emerging for supplementation claims
Buy from Herbuno	Liposomal Vitamin B5 (Calcium Pantothenate) Powder · plain calcium D-pantothenate: availability on request
Origin	Processed / Sourced from India
MOQ	R&D 100 g / 250 g (subject to stock) · Pilot batch 1–5 kg · Bulk 10 kg, 25 kg and above
Lead Time	Dispatch within 72 hrs from stock · fresh-batch production (typically 50 kg+): 10 working days
Documentation	CoA & MSDS standard with every lot

Name origin: From the Greek pantothen, from everywhere, because Roger Williams found it in essentially every biological material he examined in the 1930s. That ubiquity is also why isolated dietary deficiency is effectively unknown — the vitamin is present in almost all foods, and a diet deficient in pantothenate alone is difficult to construct outside a laboratory.

Why it is never sold as the free acid: D-pantothenic acid is a viscous, intensely hygroscopic oil at room temperature, not a crystalline solid. It cannot be handled as a powder, weighed conveniently, tableted or capsule-filled. The calcium salt is a stable crystalline powder and is the commercial article for essentially all solid applications; sodium pantothenate exists for some liquid uses. This is the same pattern as carnitine and ornithine, where the free compound's physical form rather than its chemistry forces the salt.

Chirality is absolute here: Only D-(+)-pantothenic acid has vitamin activity. The L-(−)- enantiomer is biologically inert and is not converted, so racemic calcium pantothenate delivers approximately half the vitamin activity of an equivalent weight of the D-form. Unlike methionine, where the D-isomer converts usefully, there is no salvage route here. Specifications must state the D- form explicitly.

Biochemical position: Pantothenate is the backbone of coenzyme A and of the acyl carrier protein domain of fatty acid synthase. Through CoA it participates in essentially all acyl transfer chemistry — the tricarboxylic acid cycle, fatty acid synthesis and oxidation, cholesterol and steroid synthesis, acetylcholine synthesis, and protein acetylation. Few cofactors are so pervasive.

---

Evidence for Pantothenic Acid Applications

The free acid's physical form dictates the commercial article, and this is the first practical fact. D-pantothenic acid is a viscous, intensely hygroscopic oil rather than a crystalline solid, so it cannot be weighed as a powder, blended, tableted or capsule-filled. Calcium D-pantothenate is a stable crystalline powder delivering approximately 92.0% pantothenic acid by weight, and it is the article for virtually all solid formats. A specification calling for "pantothenic acid" in a dry blend almost certainly means the calcium salt. Claim strength: High.

Only the D-form is active and there is no salvage route, which makes chirality a potency specification rather than a purity nicety. L-pantothenic acid is biologically inert and is not converted to the D-form, so racemic calcium pantothenate delivers approximately half the vitamin activity of the equivalent weight of calcium D-pantothenate. This differs from methionine, where the D-isomer converts efficiently, and resembles carnitine in that the wrong enantiomer is useless — though unlike D-carnitine, L-pantothenate is not known to be actively inhibitory. Require optical rotation and specify the D- form. Claim strength: High.

The coenzyme A role is pervasive and settled, which is why no clear deficiency syndrome exists in isolation. Pantothenate forms the backbone of CoA and of the acyl carrier protein domain of fatty acid synthase, placing it in the tricarboxylic acid cycle, fatty acid synthesis and oxidation, sterol and steroid synthesis, acetylcholine synthesis and protein acetylation. Isolated dietary deficiency is effectively unknown given the vitamin's ubiquity; the best-documented deficiency observations come from experimental depletion and from wartime prisoner-of-war reports of burning feet syndrome, the latter contested. Claim strength: High for the biochemistry; deficiency claims are not applicable.

Pantethine is a separate compound with its own evidence and should not be conflated with pantothenate. Pantethine is the disulphide dimer of pantetheine, a step closer to CoA, and it has a genuine controlled-trial literature on lipid parameters — reductions in LDL cholesterol and triglycerides at doses around 600 to 900 milligrams daily. Calcium pantothenate does not reproduce those findings, and a pantothenate product citing pantethine's lipid data is making a claim its ingredient does not support. Pantethine is also considerably more expensive and less stable. Claim strength: Moderate for pantethine; does not transfer to pantothenate.

The high-dose acne literature is very thin and frequently overstated. Interest derives principally from one small trial using pantothenic acid at around 10 grams daily, a dose some three orders of magnitude above reference intake, with a proposed mechanism involving CoA availability for sebaceous lipid metabolism. Replication is minimal and the dose is not one a conventional supplement delivers. This is not a basis for a claim, and acne is a disease endpoint in any case. Claim strength: Emerging.

Panthenol is the cosmetic article and is a different specification again. Dexpanthenol, the alcohol analogue of pantothenic acid, is converted to pantothenate in skin and is widely used topically as a humectant and skin-conditioning agent, usually as the D-form. It is a liquid or viscous material, has its own INCI listing, and its cosmetic evidence does not transfer to oral calcium pantothenate. A customer asking for "B5 for a cream" generally wants panthenol. Claim strength: High for the distinction.

---

Dosage & Formulator Specification

Dose on pantothenic acid content and state the basis. Calcium D-pantothenate is 476.53 g/mol against two pantothenate units of 219.23 each, giving approximately 92.0% pantothenic acid, so a 6 milligram pantothenic acid target requires about 6.52 milligrams of the calcium salt. Adult adequate intakes sit around 5 milligrams daily. Supplemental products commonly carry 10 to 500 milligrams; the pantethine lipid literature and the acne literature use doses that belong to different articles and different contexts respectively.

Chirality specification is a potency matter and should be written as such. Require calcium D-pantothenate by CAS number, 137-08-6, with optical rotation confirming the D-form, and specify a limit on the L-isomer. Because the L-form is inert and not salvaged, racemic material supplied against a D- specification halves the delivered vitamin activity while passing a standard assay, and the price differential creates the incentive. This is one of the clearer substitution exposures in the vitamin category.

Hygroscopicity is significant even in the salt, and more so than most B vitamins. Calcium D-pantothenate is a free-flowing white crystalline powder on receipt but absorbs atmospheric moisture readily, caking in open containers and causing flow and weight-variation problems in capsule filling and tableting. Sealed foil-lined packaging with desiccant, humidity-controlled weighing and short open-container times are all appropriate, and in a multi-component dry blend an anti-caking agent is usually warranted. It is freely soluble in water, around 35 grams per 100 millilitres.

Solution stability is the main chemical constraint. Pantothenate is an amide and hydrolyses under both acidic and alkaline conditions, with maximum stability in a narrow near-neutral band around pH 5 to 7; outside that, and particularly with heat, the amide bond cleaves to pantoic acid and beta-alanine, both inactive. A liquid or thermally processed product therefore needs its pH held in that window and needs real stability data, and a low-pH beverage carrying pantothenate will lose it over shelf life.

For analytical control, specify identity and assay with the basis stated and the salt confirmed by CAS number, calcium content confirming stoichiometry, and optical rotation confirming the D-form with an L-isomer limit. Specify beta-alanine as a degradation marker, since it is one of the two hydrolysis products and therefore a direct indicator of storage and process history — and note that beta-alanine is also a traded ingredient in its own right, so its presence should be understood as degradation rather than as an intentional component. Standard coverage includes heavy metals, residual solvents, microbiological limits, loss on drying and sulphated ash.

Three articles are routinely conflated in this category and separating them prevents most of the problems. Calcium D-pantothenate is the oral solid article, the vitamin, at roughly 92% pantothenic acid. Pantethine is the disulphide dimer of pantetheine, a step closer to coenzyme A, with its own controlled-trial literature on LDL cholesterol and triglycerides at 600 to 900 milligrams daily, considerably more expensive and less stable — and its lipid evidence does not transfer to pantothenate. Panthenol, or dexpanthenol, is the alcohol analogue used topically as a humectant and skin-conditioning agent with its own INCI listing, and its cosmetic evidence does not transfer either. A customer asking for "B5" should be asked which of the three, and for which format.

---

Frequently Asked Questions — Pantothenic Acid

Related compounds: Vitamin B Complex · Biotin · Choline · L-Carnitine · Niacin