Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12) bulk powder for formulators

Cyanocobalamin is not a peptide. It is vitamin B12 in its cyano form, a cobalt-centred corrin macrocycle, listed here because Pepti, Guangzhou produces it on the same line and supplies it on the same terms as the peptide raw materials: bulk powder from 5 g, cold-chain shipping, a lot certificate of analysis with the shipment and a safety data sheet on request. Of the non-peptide actives on this site it has the narrowest cosmetic use, and the formulators who ask for it usually have a specific concept in mind, often one in which the colour is part of the idea.

That colour is the first thing to understand: cyanocobalamin is intensely red, and at ordinary use levels it tints a formula visibly. The second is light: the cyano ligand is photolabile, and the colour shifts and then fades as the molecule degrades.

Identity and naming

Cyanocobalamin is the INCI name and the common chemical name for the cyano form of cobalamin: a corrin ring with a cobalt(III) ion at its centre, a dimethylbenzimidazole nucleotide below the ring and a cyanide ligand above it. The identity data are CAS 68-19-9, PubChem CID 165339223 under the title Vitamin B12, formula C63H88CoN14O14P and molecular weight 1355.4 g/mol.

The phrase vitamin B12 is used loosely for the whole cobalamin family. Hydroxocobalamin, methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin each carry a different upper ligand, a different CAS number and, where listed, a different INCI entry, and they differ in light stability. They are not interchangeable on paperwork; this page describes the cyano form only. Sequence is not applicable; the identity table shows a dash.

Appearance, solubility and handling

The powder is dark red, crystalline, and takes up moisture from the air, so the container stays sealed with desiccant. Pepti's storage statement is −20 °C, desiccated and protected from light, for the sealed powder, and 2–8 °C for working stock that will be used within the formulator's confirmed window. Open the container only once it has warmed to room temperature.

Cyanocobalamin is soluble in water and in ethanol and insoluble in oils, which places it in the water phase. Solutions are clear and red to pink depending on concentration. The powder stains, so a spill on a bench or balance pan is obvious; it is cleaned up with water.

Every solution is prepared and stored in amber or opaque containers. A red solution that has turned pink or lost its colour on the bench has photodegraded and is discarded, not adjusted.

What the published literature reports

Brescoll and Daveluy review the dermatological literature on vitamin B12, covering the skin, hair and nail findings associated with cobalamin deficiency, several skin conditions reported in association with cobalamin deficiency or excess, and skin reactions reported in cobalt-sensitive individuals receiving cobalamin (Brescoll J, Daveluy S. Am J Clin Dermatol, 2015).

PubChem compiles the identity, structure and physical-property records for cyanocobalamin under CID 165339223, and the European CosIng database lists Cyanocobalamin as a cosmetic ingredient name (PubChem CID 165339223, Vitamin B12).

Neither source is a claim for a finished product. The cobalt-sensitivity point is worth attention when a product is assessed for its market, but that assessment belongs to the brand, not the raw-material supplier.

Formulation notes for the bench

Chemistry only; nothing below is an efficacy statement.

• Light first. Light breaks the cobalt-cyanide bond and converts cyanocobalamin to hydroxocobalamin, then to colourless breakdown products. Add it in the cool-down phase, keep bulk solutions covered and specify opaque primary packaging. Clear bottles are not an option for this active.
• pH window. The molecule is most stable in mildly acidic to neutral bases, roughly pH 4 to 7. Strongly acidic and strongly alkaline bases both degrade it. Buffer the water phase inside the window and check for pH drift on stability.
• Ascorbic acid and reducing agents. Ascorbic acid, sulfites, thiols and similar reducers degrade cyanocobalamin in solution, and the colour fades as they do. Keep vitamin C and B12 in separate products or separate compartments.
• Trace metals. Iron and copper ions catalyse degradation. A chelator in the water phase is compatible and helps; the molecule's own cobalt is held inside the corrin and is not stripped by cosmetic chelators.
• Colour as a design constraint. At ordinary use levels the formula is pink to red. An opaque emulsion mutes it; a clear gel shows it. Either way the colour has to hold across the shelf life, because a fading tint is the first sign of degradation.
• Cobalt is not a contaminant. Cobalt is a structural atom of the molecule. An elemental screen reports it in proportion to the cyanocobalamin present; that result describes the active, not an impurity, and is read separately from the extraneous-metals line on the COA.

Use level is the formulator's decision, set from colour, stability and tolerance work in their own base.

Specification and documents for this material

Each lot comes with a certificate of analysis reporting HPLC purity, mass-spectrometry identity against the expected molecular weight, appearance, water content where the buyer's specification calls for it, and the storage and retest statements. A safety data sheet in the standard 16-section format is available, and both documents name Pepti, Guangzhou as the manufacturer.

No public batch record for cyanocobalamin is listed in the Pepti COA library yet. The lot COA is issued with the shipment. For orientation, the public records Pepti publishes for its other compounds currently fall between 98.4% and 99.8% HPLC purity.

Public batch records

No public batch record is listed for this compound in the manufacturer's library yet. The lot you receive carries its own COA with HPLC purity, MS identity and lot number; ask for the current lot's COA with your quote. The library itself is at peptioem.com/coa.