Pantothenic Acid
In 1933 Williams and co-workers demonstrated the widespread distribution of a substance that acted as a growth factor for a yeast and other microorganisms. At that time these workers applied the name pantothenic acid (Greek, from everywhere) to the active principle. Later Williams group obtained 3 g of a crude pantothenic acid concentrate (40 per cent pure) from 250 kg of liver. Further purification yielded an amorphous product with over 11,000 times the activity (yeast growth) of a standard rice bran extract.
The presence of the vitamin was detectable in concentration of 5 parts in 10 billion parts of culture medium. Other investigators were studying concentrates of plant and animal tissues which showed various physiological activity. After some years the so-called chick antidermatitis factor from liver, also called the filtrate factor, was shown to be identical with Williams pantothenic acid by Woolley, Waisman, and Eivehem and also by Jukes.
The former investigators showed that the antidermatitis factor, like pantothenic acid, is alkali and heat-labile and is a hydroxy acid derivative of B-aianme. They were able to split alanine from the active compound and reactivate by coupling the remaining part of the molecule with synthetic alanine. In 1940 pantothenic acid was crystallized in pure form, its structure determined, and its synthesis accomplished by investigators of the Merck Laboratories.
