Like other forms of vitamin B3, nicotinamide riboside is converted by your body into nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), a coenzyme or helper molecule.

Properties

While the molecular weight of nicotinamide riboside is 255.25 g/mol,that of its chloride salt is 290.70 g/mol.As such, 100 mg of nicotinamide riboside chloride provides 88 mg of nicotinamide riboside. Recently, the crystal structure of a new series of crystalline forms of other nicotinamide riboside salts has been discovered. These salts correspond to different enantiomers of hydrogen tartrate and hydrogen malate and have a molecular weight of 404.33 and 388.33 g/mol respectively.

Potential  benefits

Because most research on nicotinamide riboside and NAD+ comes from animal studies, no clear-cut conclusions can be made about its effectiveness for humans.

That said, here are some potential health benefits of nicotinamide riboside.

Nicotinamide riboside helps increase NAD+ levels in your body.

In response, NAD+ activates certain enzymes that may promote healthy aging.

One group is sirtuins, which appear to improve lifespan and overall health in animals. Studies indicate that sirtuins may repair damaged DNA, boost stress resistance, reduce inflammation and offer other benefits that promote healthy aging 

Synthesis

Different biosynthetic pathways are responsible for converting the different B3 vitamins into NAD+. The enzyme nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (Nampt) catalyzes the rate-limiting step of the two-step pathway converting nicotinamide to NAD+.NR kinase enzymes can also function as a salvage pathway for NAD+, but this pathway is not essential.