What Is Synthetic Nicotine?

After many years, synthetic nicotine is another milestone in the world of vaping. It is not obtained from tobacco leaves but is produced by the synthesis in biological laboratories, making it the purest form of nicotine. Liquids with synthetic nicotine have thus definitively freed vaping from the stigma of tobacco. Vaping has become a completely separate industry, independent of tobacco and the tobacco industry. Because of the synthetic nicotine liquids, vaping is not associated with tobacco anymore.

Nicotine is one of the alkaloids, which are basic organic compounds, most of which are of natural, plant origin. They, accordingly, occur in plants, where they act as a defense against pests, as they cause a bitter taste of the leaves and are toxic to organisms in larger quantities. Alkaloids affect the human body's metabolism, accelerate or suppress nerve transmission, and are necessary for medicine in the form of analgesics, anesthetics, hypnotics, or antipyretics. In addition, the alkaloid nicotine has stimulating and relaxing effects, induces a state of relaxation, and stimulates thinking and attention. It is highest found in the tobacco plant, where up to 14 percent of the weight of the dried tobacco leaf is nicotine. To a much lesser extent, nicotine is also found in some vegetables - dominated by eggplant, followed by tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, and cauliflower.

Standard liquids on the market always contain tobacco nicotine, which is obtained by extraction from tobacco leaves because the tobacco plant is relatively cheap and contains a large amount of nicotine. Thus, getting nicotine from tobacco is the most efficient, simplest, and cheapest way, and until recently, it was the only affordable option for liquid manufacturers.

However, in this process, it is not possible to separate nicotine completely and completely isolate it. Therefore, sediments of contaminants and other undesirable tobacco alkaloids are always present in tobacco nicotine, which negatively affect its taste, smell and unnecessarily burden their presence. This trace amount of impurities, odors, and flavors from the tobacco plant mean that manufacturers of conventional tobacco nicotine liquids must mask these undesirable properties with a higher proportion of aromas.

Natural nicotine and synthetic nicotine are identical in terms of chemical structure and provide the same stimulating effect on the human body. However, this ends all similarities, as synthetic nicotine provides many advantages that natural nicotine does not have and eliminates many of the ailments associated with natural nicotine. Until a few years ago, the cost of producing synthetic nicotine was up to 30 times higher than tobacco nicotine. That is why its use in liquids was unrealistic. Over time and with the improvement of the laboratory production process, the costs have been reduced to a level that allows the simultaneous production of synthetic nicotine on a large scale while maintaining a reasonable price. Unlike the extraction of nicotine from tobacco, the synthesis of nicotine in a biological laboratory is a complex, multi-step, time-consuming, and expensive process. And that is why synthetic nicotine is currently up to 13 times more expensive than tobacco nicotine. There are only a few elite brands worldwide that offer such liquids. Hence, it is a unique product on the market.

Synthetic nicotine is an entirely isolated compound and is, therefore, the purest possible form of nicotine. Consequently, it is completely odorless, tasteless, and colorless and does not carry other contaminants, unlike tobacco nicotine. Therefore, liquid with synthetic nicotine has the purest taste, and there is no need to add more sweeteners and other flavors to mask the harsh taste of tobacco. Even with a milder aftertaste, a great taste is achieved. The diminished presence of sweeteners has a tendency to caramelize and degrade the glow coil during vaping. However, the highest benefit of synthetic nicotine liquids is where the absence of tobacco impurities excludes their potential negative impact on the human body, including their ability to increase nicotine addiction. The bottomless difference between the harmfulness of cigarettes and the harmlessness of vaping deepens even more with the appearance of synthetic nicotine.

Synthetic nicotine is also used in the substitution treatment of cigarette addiction in the form of nicotine patches, medicines, chewing gum, or aerosol inhalers. However, since cigarette smoking is not only physical but also primarily psychosocial, the use of synthetic nicotine in an electronic cigarette seems to be the most effective alternative, as the user does not lose his daily rituals of inhaling smoke.

Although nicotine is addictive, it does not cause more serious problems than tobacco. As we know, the carcinogens contained in tobacco smoke are caused by burning paper cigarettes. Researchers are now increasingly believing that isolated nicotine in its pure form can be used as a medicine. Pharmaceutical companies are interested in nicotine because it can play an important role in preventing neurological diseases and improving cognitive functions by acting on dopamine and acetylcholine levels. Numerous tests showed a marked improvement in patients' memory, attention, concentration, recognition, orientation, visual perception, reaction time since the synthetic nicotine was administered as a treatment—moreover, the ability to receive new information also improved. In addition, nicotine has been shown to have a beneficial effect on degenerative processes and helping people with such disabilities to improve movement and alleviate mental problems, activate the central nervous system, and generally stimulate the body to perform better. Thus, it can be a substance with a therapeutic effect and a helpful tool both for developing new drugs and for physiological and biochemical research. Although the research results are promising, doctors are skeptical about the rapid progress in implementation in medical practice.

Nicotine cannot be patented, so the vision of big profits does not come from its production. The approach of institutions and companies engaged in the research of new preparations is quite indifferent (similarly to the case of marijuana).