Ricerc@Sapienza

Degradation of L-ascorbic acid (L-AA) occurs into two types of reactions, named the non-oxidative and the oxidative. The main difference between these two pathways is that furfural is more easily produced through the former. It should be noted that the expression non-oxidative refers solely to the nature of the initial step, since subsequent transformations may involve various oxidation steps. Indeed, the oxidative pathway describes the reaction which involves as an initial step the oxidation of L-ascorbic acid to dehydro-L-ascorbic acid.

Furan derivatives, potentially carcinogenic to humans, can be formed, in addition to carbohydrates and other sources, from the degradation of ascorbic acid (AA). At present, the mechanisms involved in the ascorbic acid degradation are not yet fully understood. In this study, we reported a gas-phase investigation, performed using Triple Quadrupole (TQ/MS) and Ion Trap Mass Spectrometry (QIT/MS) together with quantum mechanical calculations at the B3LYP/6-31+G(d,p) level of theory, on the non-oxidative degradation mechanism of l-ascorbic acid (AA) to furan derivatives.