Folic acid is a vitamin, it is the water soluble vitamin B9. The acid itself is sparingly soluble, the sodium salt if this acid, sodium folate, is much more soluble. The latter is easily prepared by dissolving folic acid in a dilute solution of NaOH.

The chemical structure of this compound is fairly complicated, and its structural name would be enormous. The name 'folic' is derived from the latin word 'folium', which means 'leaf'. This compound is present in many leaf vegetables, hence the name.

The structure of this chemical is given in the drawing below:

The sample, shown above in a miniature vial (size 10x15 mm), is approximately 1 gram of solid pure folic acid.