CREATINE Organic Chemistry Project Chemistry 11 block c Austin wahl & Will Holden

History Of Creatine In 1832, French philosopher and scientist, Michel Eugene Chevreul became the first man to successfully extract creatine from meat. When other scientists heard about Chevreul’s finding, a man named Von Liebig continued the research and found that wild animals have more creatine in their muscles than their domestic cousins. He came to the conclusion that the level of activity influenced the amount of creatine produced. In 1912, researches in Harvard University found that ingesting creatine could dramatically boost the creatine content within the muscle. Also findings emerged which suggested that the use of oral creatine in animals promoted nitrogen retention. This meant that more protein was building up in the muscles, increasing weight gain.

Properties Of Creatine Some forms of creatine include creatine monohydrate, creatine anhydrous, creatine citrate and dicreatine malate. Compound name: 2- [Carbamimidoyl(methyl)amino]acetic acid Molar mass: 131.133 g/mol Molecular Formula: C4H9N3O2 Appearance: White chrystals Soluble in H2O at 18 °C Melting point: 255 °C Boiling point: N/A

Creatine Structural Diagram Creatine is made up of Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen , and Oxygen. When the equation is balanced it is: 4 C(s) + 9/2 H2(g) + 3/2 N2(g) + O2(g) = C4H9N3O2

Synthesized Commercially Creatine is produced naturally in our body with the combination of three amino acids, glycine, arginine and methionine. Creatine also is created synthetically by the manufacturing of two chemicals - sarcosine, which is a sodium salt and derivative of acetic acid, and cyanamide. The process to manufacturing creatine happens in 4 stages – reaction phase, cleaning phase, drying phase, and the milling phase. At the end of this process is a pure finished creatine ready to be packaged. Pure finished creatine is usually 88% creatine and 12% water because creatine picks up and bonds to water molecules during the initial reaction process.

Why Do people Use Creatine? Benefits of Supplementing with Creatine: Increases muscle strength and size Enhances recovery Improves sprint performance Enhances brain function There is some science supporting the use of creatine in improving the athletic performance of young, healthy people during brief high- intensity activity such as sprinting. Because of this, creatine is often used as a dietary supplement to improve muscle strength and athletic performance. Vegetarians have the most success when supplementing creatine because their body is already at a low creatine since they don’t eat red meats. Although Creatine has shown to be successful, many people think that it is a very dangerous supplement and leads to many issues later on in life.

Issues associated with Creatine Creatine is dangerous in large quantities, just like every other supplement but Scientists have made connections between creatine and problems like kidney failure, liver problems, heart problems and more, but this has not been proven. Creatine can also cause diarrhea, stomach pain, nausea and muscle cramps. If someone is using Creatine and isn’t drinking large amounts of water, they will become dehydrated and start cramping up. Very few people experience these 4 side effects when using creatine but when they do it is important to stop using it right away: allergic reaction, especially hives, swelling, or trouble breathing fast heartbeat seizures or fainting any signs of dizziness, drowsiness, weakness, or confusion

Sources Information: http://www.menshealth.com/health/creatine-side-effects-what-it-is-what-it-do https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creatine http://www.webmd.com/men/creatine#1 http://www.mensfitness.com/nutrition/supplements/6-reasons-you-should-be-taking-creatine https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/creatine http://fusionnutritioninc.blogspot.ca/2007/07/how-creatine-is-made.html Pictures: http://www.stack.com/a/dehydration-impairs-sports-performanc https://www.muscleandstrength.com/expert-guides/creatine-monohydrate http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/before-after-or-whenever-the-best-time-to-take- creatine.html https://www.athlegan.com/vegan-creatine/