Cytidine 5′-diphosphocholine sits in a part of the reagent catalogue that has little in common with simple organic solids. It is a nucleotide conjugate: a pyrimidine nucleoside carrying a diphosphate bridge that terminates in a quaternary ammonium head. Almost everything a laboratory decides about this material — the container, the room, the weighing procedure, the solvent — follows from that architecture rather than from any catalogue slogan.
Reading the molecule before reading the label
Three fragments make up the compound. Cytosine supplies the aromatic, hydrogen-bonding portion; ribose supplies a rigid furanose ring with two free hydroxyl groups; the pyrophosphate bridge joins that nucleoside to choline through a phosphodiester linkage. The choline unit is permanently charged, so the substance stays zwitterionic across the ordinary working pH window and never behaves like a neutral organic powder. See also our reagent-grade material: Löwenmähne / Igelsopran / Hericium Erinaceus < .
The practical consequence is polarity. A material of this class dissolves readily in water, resists non-polar media, and refuses to move on a plain reversed-phase system without an ion-pairing or polar-retention strategy. Chromatographers who treat it as an ordinary small molecule usually find it in the void volume and blame the column.
- Chemical class
- Nucleotide conjugate — a cytidine nucleoside joined through a diphosphate bridge to a choline head group.
- Empirical formula
- C14H26N4O11P2, cross-checked against supplier and database records rather than copied from a shop listing.
- Formula mass
- 488.32 g/mol — the figure that converts a weighed portion into molar concentration.
- Registry entry
- 987-78-0 identifies the free acid form. Sodium salts of the same skeleton carry their own registry numbers, and the two are not interchangeable on a balance.
- Ionic character
- A permanently charged ammonium centre together with acidic phosphate groups; the species is zwitterionic, not neutral.
- Hygroscopicity
- Pronounced. The solid draws atmospheric moisture, which inflates weighings and quietly starts cleavage of the diphosphate bridge.
- Storage regime
- Cool, dry and dark, tightly sealed with desiccant; the exact temperature belongs on the certificate that accompanies the batch.
- Identity confirmation
- Certificate values reproduced in house — typically a molecular ion by mass spectrometry and an intact bridge seen by phosphorus NMR.
Why the diphosphate bridge governs shelf life
The weakest point of the structure is the anhydride-like linkage between the two phosphate units. Bonds of that type are primed for hydrolysis; water is the reagent that cleaves them, and warmth, extreme pH and traces of divalent metal ions accelerate the process. A jar opened repeatedly in a humid weighing room accumulates enough condensed water to begin that cleavage long before anything becomes visible.
Because the cleavage products are themselves polar and ultraviolet-active, an ageing batch does not announce itself by discolouration. It announces itself analytically: new early-eluting peaks in an ion-pair chromatogram, additional signals in the phosphorus spectrum. That is the argument for periodic re-qualification of a long-serving container instead of trusting the original paperwork indefinitely.
A handling routine that matches the chemistry
Equilibrate the closed container to ambient temperature before the seal is broken, otherwise moisture condenses directly onto cold powder. Weigh briskly, preferably in a glove bag or a dry-air enclosure, and reseal at once. Prepare aqueous stocks with degassed, deionised water and keep them cold and shielded from light; a polar nucleotide in solution is far less durable than the same nucleotide as a dry solid.
Dedicated spatulas and clean weighing boats matter more here than for an average organic powder, since phosphate esters chelate metals and metal contamination shortens the life of every subsequent aliquot. Records should tie each aliquot to a batch number, so that an anomalous measurement can be traced to a single container rather than to a whole shipment. See also our catalogue listing: ALCAR / Acetyl-L-Carnitin – Reinheit ≥ 99% Nettoge.
Paperwork that has to travel with the batch
A research-grade portion of this substance is defined by its documentation as much as by its structure. The certificate states assay, water content, residual solvents and inorganic phosphate; the safety data sheet states transport class and incompatibilities; the internal log states when the seal was broken and by whom. Where any of these is missing, the material may be stored but cannot be called characterised, and every measurement made against it inherits that gap.
Related reagents
- ALCAR / Acetyl-L-Carnitin – Reinheit ≥ 99% Nettogewicht 1000mg.
- Löwenmähne / Igelsopran / Hericium Erinaceus < 10g 99% Soprano Pulv
- PRL-8-53, 1000mg czystej substancji ≥ 99%.
- CDP cholina ≥ 99%, 1000mg
Indexed publications
Animal and in vitro studies indexed in PubMed; no human-use guidance is provided here.
- Fagone P Phosphatidylcholine and the CDP-choline cycle 2013, Biochimica et biophysica acta. PMID 23010477
- Secades JJ Citicoline: pharmacological and clinical review, 2022 update 2022, Revista de neurologia. PMID 36544369
- D'Orlando KJ Citicoline (CDP-choline): mechanisms of action and effects in ischemic brain injury 1995, Neurological research. PMID 7477743
- Jambou R Citicoline (CDP-choline): What role in the treatment of complications of infectious diseases 2009, The international journal of biochemistry & . PMID 19401146
Scope of use. Any administration to humans is excluded. The material is not a veterinary product. It is a high-purity laboratory product for research using HPLC and GC-MS. It is not a drug, supplement or food.
