Introduction
Vitamins are a group of small molecular compounds that are essential
nutrients in many multi-cellular organisms, and humans in particular. The
name ―vitamin‖ is a contraction of ―vital amine‖, and came about because
many of the first vitamins to be discovered were members of this class of
organic compounds. And although many of the subsequently discovered
vitamins were not amines, the name was retained. In this exercise you will be
studying vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid.