Redoxon, first marketed to the general public in 1934, is the brand name, and the original name, of the first artificially synthesized ascorbic acid

Ascorbic acid

Ascorbic acid is a naturally occurring organic compound with antioxidant properties. It is a white solid, but impure samples can appear yellowish. It dissolves well in water to give mildly acidic solutions. Ascorbic acid is one form of vitamin C. The name is derived from a- and scorbutus , the...

 (Vitamin C

Vitamin C

Vitamin C or L-ascorbic acid or L-ascorbate is an essential nutrient for humans and certain other animal species. In living organisms ascorbate acts as an antioxidant by protecting the body against oxidative stress...

).

The product was developed by a team headed by chemist Tadeusz Reichstein, who discovered a method of synthesizing 30-40 g of vitamin C from 100 g of glucose

Glucose

Glucose is a simple sugar and an important carbohydrate in biology. Cells use it as the primary source of energy and a metabolic intermediate...

. This used an intermediate step of creating sorbose

Sorbose

Sorbose is a ketose belonging to the group of sugars known as monosaccharides. It has a sweetness that is equivalent to sucrose . The commercial production of vitamin C often begins with sorbose. L-Sorbose is the configuration of the naturally occurring sugar....

 using an ingenious bacterial fermentation method discovered by a French researcher, Gabriel Bertrand

Gabriel Bertrand

Gabriel Bertrand was a French biochemist and bacteriologist.Bertrand introduced into biochemistry both the term “oxidase” and the concept of trace elements....

. In this method, fruit flies

Drosophila melanogaster

Drosophila melanogaster is a species of Diptera, or the order of flies, in the family Drosophilidae. The species is known generally as the common fruit fly or vinegar fly. Starting from Charles W...

 were attracted to a mixture of wine, vinegar, yeast bouillon, and sorbitol

Sorbitol

Sorbitol, also known as glucitol, Sorbogem® and Sorbo®, is a sugar alcohol that the human body metabolizes slowly. It can be obtained by reduction of glucose, changing the aldehyde group to a hydroxyl group. Sorbitol is found in apples, pears, peaches, and prunes...

, a substance easily chemically prepared from glucose. Flies which fed upon sorbitol as a major food subtrate excreted bacteria which were able to synthesize sorbose from sorbitol. Using the bacteria, within a few days, it was possible to create 50 grams of sorbose using this method, and it was then easy to synthesise ascorbic acid from this.

Despite concern about using the wild strain of bacteria for fermentation-production of sorbose, the process was superior to a rival method of Szent-Gyorgyi which isolated Vitamin C from capsicum

Capsicum

Capsicum is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Its species are native to the Americas where they have been cultivated for thousands of years, but they are now also cultivated worldwide, used as spices, vegetables, and medicines - and have become are a key element in...

. After sale of the Reichstein process

Reichstein process

The Reichstein process in chemistry is a combined chemical and microbial method for the production of ascorbic acid from D-glucose that takes place in several steps...

 patent to Hoffmann-La Roche, this process became the basis of the corporation's large-scale production of vitamin C.

The commercial tablets are compounded from ascorbic acid and sodium bicarbonate

Sodium bicarbonate

Sodium bicarbonate or sodium hydrogen carbonate is the chemical compound with the formula Na HCO3. Sodium bicarbonate is a white solid that is crystalline but often appears as a fine powder. It has a slightly salty, alkaline taste resembling that of washing soda . The natural mineral form is...

. When these are added to water, they react to produce sodium ascorbate

Sodium ascorbate

Sodium ascorbate is a more bioavailable form of vitamin C that is an alternative to taking ascorbic acid as a supplement. The molecular formula of this chemical compound is C6H7NaO6...

, water and carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...

, thus producing a pleasant effervescence

Effervescence (chemistry)

Effervescence is the escape of gas from an aqueous solution and the foaming or fizzing that results from a release of the gas. The word effervescence is derived from the Latin verb fervere preceded by the adverb ex, which means to boil...

.

Redoxon is made by Bayer

Bayer

Bayer AG is a chemical and pharmaceutical company founded in Barmen , Germany in 1863. It is headquartered in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and well known for its original brand of aspirin.-History:...

.

Each Redoxon Vita Immune tablet contains:

Vitamin C 1000 mg
Vitamin A 2333 IU
Vitamin B6 6.5 mg
Vitamin B12 9.6 ug
Vitamin D 400 IU
Vitamin E 45 mg
Folic Acid 400 ug
Zinc 10 mg
Selenium 110 ug
Copper 900 ug
Iron 5 mg