Caffeine Anhydrous
A purified xanthine alkaloid, isolated by Runge in 1819.
Caffeine, 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine, is a purine alkaloid of the methylxanthine class. It occurs endogenously in Coffea arabica beans, Camellia sinensis leaves, Theobroma cacao seeds, and Ilex paraguariensis leaves. It was first isolated by Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge in 1819 in Jena, at the encouragement of Goethe. Molar mass 194.19 g/mol, formula C8H10N4O2. Anhydrous caffeine is the water-free crystalline form, distinct from the caffeine hemihydrate that predominates in tea leaves. In LUCID, the material is a pharmacopoeial-grade white crystalline powder produced at an EU-registered manufacturer through purification from selected coffee bean sources, standardised to a minimum 99 percent assay by HPLC. It carries a full identity, purity, residual solvent, and contaminant panel per European Pharmacopoeia monograph 0267. Each lot is verified at Eurofins Antwerp before release.
The 70 mg calibration is the single most editorially significant number in the LUCID composition. It sits deliberately below the 75 mg per serving threshold at which EU Regulation 432/2012 permits a regulated wording for caffeine, a wording we choose not to use. We chose 70 mg because we prefer to speak from calibration rather than to speak to a claim boundary. The number derives directly from the 1:3.6 caffeine-to-L-theanine mass ratio documented in Owen et al., 2008, Nutritional Neuroscience: at 255 mg of L-theanine, the paired caffeine mass is 70.83 mg, rounded down to 70. A standard espresso in a Brussels cafe carries between 80 and 120 mg. LUCID is calibrated below that reference on purpose. The number is the argument. We would rather forfeit the claim than round upward to earn it.
The material is sourced from an EU-registered manufacturer at pharmacopoeial grade processing green coffee beans of Latin American and East African origin. The extraction avoids dichloromethane, using supercritical CO2 as the primary solvent. Each incoming lot is verified at Eurofins Antwerp for identity, purity, and residual solvent panel before release. Documentation is retained for ten years.
Caffeine Anhydrous sits seventh in the composition table, in the state-calibration band, paired at declared 1:3.6 mass ratio with L-Theanine.
