α-Tocopherol is a type of vitamin E. It has E number "E307". Vitamin E exists in eight different forms, four tocopherols and four tocotrienols. All feature a chromane ring, with a hydroxyl group that can donate a hydrogen atom to reduce free radicals and a hydrophobic side chain which allows for penetration into biological membranes. Compared to the others, α-tocopherol is preferentially absorbed and accumulated in humans. Vitamin E is found in a variety of tissues, being lipid-soluble, and taken up by the body in a wide variety of ways. The most prevalent form, α-tocopherol, is involved in molecular, cellular, biochemical processes closely related to overall lipoprotein and lipidhomeostasis. Ongoing research is believed to be "critical for manipulation of vitamin E homeostasis in a variety of oxidative stress-related disease conditions in humans." One of these disease conditions is the α-tocopherol role in the use by malaria parasites to protect themselves from the highly oxidative environment in erythrocytes.
Stereoisomers
α-Tocopherol has three stereocenters, so it is a chiral molecule. The eightstereoisomers of α-tocopherol differ in the configuration of these stereocenters. RRR-α-tocopherol is the natural one. The older name of RRR-α-tocopherol is d-α-tocopherol, but this d/l naming should be no longer used, because whetherl-α-tocopherol should mean SSSenantiomer or the SRRdiastereomer is not clear, from historical reasons. The SRR may be named 2-epi-α-tocopherol, the diastereomeric mixture of RRR-α-tocopherol and 2-epi-α-tocopherol may be called 2-ambo-α-tocopherol. The mixture of all eight diastereomers is called all-rac-α-tocopherol One IU of tocopherol is defined as ⅔ milligram of RRR-α-tocopherol. 1 IU is also defined as 1 mg of an equal mix of the eight stereoisomers, which is a racemic mixture, all-rac-α-tocopheryl acetate. This mix of stereoisomers is often called dl-α-tocopheryl acetate. However, 1 IU of this mixture of diastereomers is not now considered equivalent to 1 IU of natural RRR-α-tocopherol, and the Institute of Medicine and the USDA now convert IUs of the racemic mixture to milligrams of equivalent RRR using 1 IU racemic mixture = 0.45mg "α-tocopherol".
