x
This ‘salt’ is not to be
confused with table salt!
In the late 1950s to early 1960s, companies
began adding ammonia or diammonium
phosphate to improve the flavour of
cigarettes.
In reality, this created a nicotine ‘free-
base’ which when smoked, gives a
stronger hit through more rapid absorption
H
into the bloodstream and therefore user
satisfaction, leading to dominance
N
across the tobacco market
for decades.
N
(Nicotine ‘free-base’)
To isolate nicotine from the tobacco leaf,
it is first converted to its free-base form
and is then extracted using a solvent.
W
NO
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It’s this free-base nicotine that is most
commonly used for vaping, however the rate
of nicotine absorption versus a combustible
cigarette is lower. This is possibly due to the
larger particle size of the vapour compared
to an ash cloud and not being able to
penetrate as deeply within the lung, where
the most rapid nicotine uptake occurs.
When vaped, nicotine is absorbed in the
nose, mouth, throat, mucosal membranes,
and the alveoli. Through experimental
investigation it has been found that certain
nicotine formulations with organic acids
when vaped gave comparable nicotine hits
to cigarettes by monitoring heart rate, user
reported satisfaction and measuring blood
plasma nicotine levels of test participants.
In addition, these formulations showed
improved stability and a reduced throat hit
when compared to the free-base nicotine
used most commonly by vapers.
O
H
N
N
H
O
(Nicotine benzoate salt)
This is why some believe nic salts could
be more useful for smokers trying to quit
as there is a more comparable nicotine
hit and feeling of satisfaction to that of
cigarettes when making the switch to vaping.
One such formulation is nicotine benzoate
salt, which is formed by the addition of
benzoic acid to nicotine. This is what is
used in popular US pod devices.
About the author:
Dr Richard Cunningham has a Ph.D in medicinal chemistry from Queen’s University Belfast where he also worked as post-
doctoral researcher for a number of years before working in the US at the Mitchell Cancer Institute in Alabama. Among his
areas of expertise are organic synthesis, nucleosides, nucleotides, cellular biology, vitamins, aminoglycosides, drug delivery,
phosphorous chemistry and chemical analysis. He is now the director of quality control at Liquid Sciences LLC.
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