Insights into Large-Scale Synthesis of Benfotiamine

There has been increased interest in the synthesis of benfotiamine during the past few years, most likely as a direct consequence of growing market demand. It has much higher bioavailability than thiamine (vitamin B1) and therefore is more suitable for therapeutic purposes, especially in oral form. We report herein our research in an academic-private R&D project in which we investigate all aspects of the process on small and large scales. The procedure involves two labor-intensive steps, starting from thiami3ne chloride hydrochloride with the key intermediate thiamine monophosphate phosphate (TMP─the phosphate ester of thiamine monophosphate). We obtained the crystalline form of benfotiamine directly from the synthesis in the crystalline form required on the market, as proven by XRD powder spectroscopy, IR, and RAMAN.