What is the meaning of amine in vitamins?
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5 min read
In 1912, Polish biochemist Casimir Funk coined the term "vitamine" from the Latin "vita" (life) and "amine," believing that all these essential micronutrients contained an amine group. His assumption, based on the discovery of thiamine (vitamin B1), profoundly influenced nutritional science and gave the entire class of compounds its name. However, further research revealed that not all vitamins are, in fact, amines, leading to the removal of the final "e" and changing the spelling to the modern "vitamin".
