Is Synthetic Nicotine the Answer for the Vaping Industry?

A few days ago, I met and chatted with my old friend Zhang Ziheng in the industry, and I learned that he had joined Bolton Group. During the heyday of the domestic e-cigarette smoke, he was behind several well-known European and American brands such as Fengpai Red Ice, Aotu, Million Honghe, etc. He can be said to be an old man in the e-cigarette industry and currently serves as COO of Zhongxiang Fragrance (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., owned by Bolton. General Manager Zhang introduced me to some of Burton's layout and progress on e-cigarettes. Among them, China's cigarette oil project on synthetic nicotine aroused my curiosity.
  Zhang Ziheng, COO of Bolton Group Zhongxiang Fragrance
Most of the industry have heard of Bolton Group. After all, it is the first listed company in Hong Kong in the domestic flavor and fragrance industry. It has now become a large-scale modern enterprise group covering the four core sectors of the flavor and fragrance industry group, bioengineering, consumer electronics, and property management. Bolton Group is best known for its flavors and fragrances. It is now one of the world's four major flavor and fragrances suppliers. It has provided flavors and fragrances to the tobacco industry for more than 30 years. The 18 largest cigarette companies in China are all Bolton's customers and are also one of the participants in the formulation of national standards for electronic atomizing liquids.
 
Zhongxiang Fragrance (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. was established in June 2007. It is a supplier of Bolton Group specializing in the research and solution of e-cigarette liquids. It has an experienced team of testing and certification experts, and its R & D personnel account for more than 1/3 of the company's personnel, including many experts with more than 10 years of experience in tobacco oil, food and tobacco flavoring. It can be customized and developed according to customers 'special needs. Zhongxiang's business has long spread across many countries and regions such as China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Australia, and the Middle East. It is just a ToB company, and the public does not know much about Zhongxiang.
 
General Manager Zhang said that synthesizing nicotine is one of the latest technical research directions of Zhongxiang. On the one hand, they want to seek new growth points and markets. On the other hand, as regulations and regulations in various countries become more and more stringent, especially the regulation of tobacco products, the use of natural nicotine in e-cigarettes is becoming more and more restricted. Synthetic nicotine does not involve tobacco products, so there are no similar restrictions for the time being.
 
I felt quite touched by what he said. E-cigarettes are a good name, but not a good name. The good ones are reminiscent of cigarettes, and the bad ones are also reminiscent of cigarettes.

Last year, I wrote an article "Why do e-cigarettes fall into this embarrassing situation where everyone seems to want to manage them and can manage them, but I don't know who should manage them?" It mentioned that what led to the chaotic management and stigmatization of e-cigarettes was that e-cigarettes made a fatal mistake at the beginning, imitating the way and experience of cigarette use, even the name. Although e-cigarettes were originally introduced as a healthier alternative to traditional cigarettes, because consumers are unfamiliar with e-cigarettes and their use, manufacturers must emphasize that the functions and experience of e-cigarettes are similar to traditional cigarettes. E-cigarettes are not only promoted in this way, but also use design and new technologies to make e-cigarettes close to cigarettes in terms of physical appearance and experience. They even use the word cigarette in the label to describe e-cigarettes as a replica very similar to cigarettes. In particular, e-cigarettes also contain nicotine extracted from tobacco, which directly leads to e-cigarettes leaving the impression in the minds of the public, experts and stakeholders that e-cigarettes are also tobacco products, and therefore need to be regulated in the same way as cigarettes.

But in fact, the working principles, smoke composition, safety and harmfulness of e-cigarettes and cigarettes are different. E-cigarettes have a more appropriate academic name abroad, Electronic Nicotine Delivery System, which is abbreviated as ENDS. Since e-cigarettes entered the global market in 2006, their popularity has grown exponentially due to their practicality and safety (relative to cigarettes). The word ENDS was even selected as the Oxford English Dictionary's Word of the Year in 2014. Like nicotine patches (smoking cessation patches) and nicotine gum (smoking cessation chewing gum), it is a device that is safer and more reliable to obtain nicotine than cigarettes.# p#pagination title #e#
 
It is widely believed that at least 6500 identified chemical components in the particulates and gas phase of cigarette smoke are the main culprits of harmful smoking. These chemicals are either present in tobacco leaves or are by-products of tobacco pyrolysis and combustion. In contrast, aerosols produced by directly heating and atomizing nicotine solutions without tobacco and combustion are considered by many to be much less toxic than cigarette smoke.

Based on this current situation, more and more e-cigarette brands and manufacturers are now consciously downplaying the concept of smoke and replacing it with electronic atomization. I agree that e-cigarettes should take a clear stand to draw a clear line between themselves and traditional cigarettes. However, human beings 'first impressions of things are too deep, and there is a long way to go to eliminate misunderstandings. Even if the culprit causing cancer in cigarettes is tar, carbon monoxide and other substances in smoke rather than nicotine, because the nicotine in e-cigarettes is extracted from tobacco, in many people's minds, e-cigarettes are just like cigarettes.

Therefore, if nicotine is no longer extracted from tobacco but is artificially synthesized, can e-cigarettes be completely separated from tobacco products? At present, most different countries and regions define and manage cigarettes and products using synthetic nicotine differently.
 
  EU: Synthetic nicotine is an artificial replica of traditional nicotine and is mainly found in tobacco, nicotine patches, nicotine chewing gum and most e-cigarette liquids. Scientists produced the nicotine molecule in the laboratory without the use of tobacco, thus freeing the electronic liquids produced using synthetic nicotine from the rules and regulations set by TPD.

South Korea: The current "Cigarette Business Law" stipulates that products that are processed and produced from tobacco leaves or parts of tobacco leaves as raw materials and can suck or inhale steam, chew or smell are recognized as cigarette products. Products containing nicotine extracted or synthesized from tobacco roots are not cigarettes. Therefore, many atomized e-cigarettes and heated e-cigarettes avoid being classified as cigarettes by avoiding using tobacco leaves as raw materials.

Australia: Starting from July 1, Australia has banned the import of nicotine and nicotine salts, but synthetic products that are not extracted from tobacco leaves can bypass regulation to solve this problem.

United States: The PMTA deadline is approaching on September 9. Referring to relevant regulations of other countries, synthetic nicotine products may not be included in the management and taxation of tobacco products. But it should be emphasized that in bills signed by some states, including Wyoming, e-cigarettes have been defined as any device that can be used to deliver aerosolized or vaporized nicotine or synthetic nicotine. rdquo; As the world's largest e-cigarette consumer market, everything was still unknown before the bill was officially promulgated.

As a result, a few manufacturers with a keen sense of smell and strength began to join the field of synthetic nicotine research and development, and Burton Zhongxiang is one of them.
 
Bolton Group is a leading research and production base for flavors and fragrances and general health industries in China. Relying on Bolton's industry qualifications and nearly 30 years of seasoning experience, Zhongxiang knew the importance of synthetic nicotine to the industry, so it began to work at the end of 2018. Research in the field of synthetic nicotine and successfully developed its own synthetic nicotine in 2019.

Burton Zhongxiang was not the first person to synthesize nicotine. Although synthetic nicotine is a new direction in the e-cigarette industry, it was done more than 100 years ago. As early as 1904, A. Pictet and Crepieux successfully used chemical synthesis to obtain nicotine for the first time. At that time, synthetic nicotine was mainly used in substance research and medical fields to treat brain diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or epilepsy.

The first time synthetic nicotine was applied to the e-cigarette industry was in 2016. Lost Art, a U.S. e-cigarette fluid manufacturer, has launched a full-flavor line of cigarette fluids that synthesizes nicotine. However, they spent a lot of time and energy marketing this new nicotine product, but to no avail. The main reason was that new nicotine salts were developing rapidly during the same period, while synthetic nicotine, which was not yet fully technologically complete at that time, was temporarily obscured due to the long production cycle and high cost.# p#pagination title #e#
 
Although it has been temporarily forgotten by time, in the long run, the birth of synthetic nicotine is still a huge progress in the e-cigarette industry. From a technical point of view, naturally extracted nicotine contains a small amount of impurities. For example, natural tobacco contains nitrosamines (carcinogens) and some plant particles to a greater or lesser extent. These impurities can produce an unpleasant taste and pungent smell, which can affect the experience. Although synthetic nicotine is not absolutely pure, it eliminates many impurities contained in nicotine extracted from traditional tobacco, which reduces the harm to health to a certain extent. However, who is better and worse from naturally extracted and artificially synthesized nicotine cannot be judged solely based on nicotine. Instead, the producer's production qualifications, R & D strength and equipment level should be comprehensively evaluated.
 
President Zhang told me that the first batch of synthetic nicotine officially released by Zhongxiang is called New Generation Nicotine, which can reach 99.5%. In addition, it has many advantages:

1. Safety and harm reduction.

Production and development has gone through strict quality procedures and passed the testing and certification of the CNAS standard laboratory.

2. Smooth taste and less stimulation.

NGN nicotine is significantly less irritating than natural nicotine, does not have a spicy throat, the smoke taste is more delicate and mellow, the mouth is soft and comfortable, and the lungs are smooth.

3. Burton provides it himself, good quality and low price

Unlike most domestic manufacturers who need to externally purchase synthetic nicotine to prepare tobacco oil, Zhongxiang NGN Tobacco Oil is based on the Bolton system, eliminating intermediate links and having a price advantage.

4. Nicotine/butyl salt can be customized according to customer needs

Due to its own synthetic production technology, Zhongxiang NGN can be freely customized according to customer needs.
 
It can be seen that Zhongxiang is experimenting with its own tobacco oil strategy.

No matter what the outcome is, I have always had a strong curiosity and favorable impression of new technologies, and have a deep respect for companies that are obsessed with technology research and development. I believe that it is these innovative people who promote mankind to understand the world and explore the truth.

Nicotine has always been misunderstood by the public because of its inseparable relationship with tobacco and its addictive nature. Since 1960, nicotine has never been subject to negative media reports, which has led many people to believe that nicotine is the main culprit of all negative effects of smoking until recently implicated in e-cigarettes. If synthetic nicotine can help distinguish e-cigarettes from traditional tobacco, eliminate public misunderstandings about e-cigarettes, and improve public health, it will be a great thing. Just as President Zhang said:

Although policy changes are beyond our control, there are a few things that can be done: optimize synthetic nicotine technology, ensure production, and reduce costs. Regardless of the policy, if synthetic nicotine becomes universal, it will be a revolutionary step, and I can see the potential behind it.

Postscript:

Special thanks to Huang Honghai, chief perfumer of Bolton Zhongxiang Fragrance, for his technical support!
  Chief perfumer of Zhongxiang-Huang Honghai
Nicotine synthesis is a new field for me. In order to understand what happens in synthesizing nicotine and avoid saying the wrong thing to mislead the public, I went through the HowNet literature. I don't know whether there are too few studies on synthesizing nicotine or whether it is inconvenient to disclose them. In short, there are too little relevant information found. There are only three articles in total, and many professional questions still remain unanswered.
 
Fortunately, I contacted Huang Honghai, the technical director of Zhongxiang, who has more than 6 years of experience in blending e-cigarettes. So I asked more than a dozen questions in one go, and Huang Gong was still helping me answer them until midnight. I was very moved and thank you very much!# p#pagination title #e#
 
People who do technology are rigorous and do not like to brag. Huang Gong not only pointed out the exaggeration and incompleteness in the article, but also popularized many technical and professional issues to me. For example, nicotine actually has two structures, which are divided into left-handed and right-handed, just like left and right hands. Only levo-nicotine has psychoactive activity, and it can also be used to relieve addiction. D-nicotine does not have this effect. Most of the natural nicotine is levorotine. The ratio of levorotine to right-handed nicotine in synthetic nicotine is 1:1. Only through further extraction and separation can levorotine be obtained. This leads to a higher cost, although synthetic levo-nicotine is purer and has a better anti-addiction effect than naturally extracted ones. It seems that synthetic nicotine is not without its shortcomings.
 
However, science is always moving forward. Research on synthesizing nicotine is still in its infancy. As time goes by, technology advances, the cost of synthesizing nicotine will become lower and lower.

I believe in the power of science and the wisdom of mankind.