It is used as a nutritional supplement and food additive due to superior absorption compared to thiamine hydrochloride in pharmaceutical formulations for vitamin B1 delivery and in biochemical studies of thiamine metabolism.

Its primary purpose is to serve as a pro-vitamin that rapidly hydrolyzes in vivo to active thiamine for coenzyme functions in carbohydrate metabolism resisting enzymatic degradation better than native thiamine.

Dibenzoyl thiamine (bentiamine CHNOS) is a white to off-white solid lipophilic derivative of thiamine (vitamin B1) featuring two benzoyl ester groups attached to the thiamine scaffold at oxygen and sulfur positions with a melting point around 173C density 1.29 gcm and limited solubility in chloroform or DMSO.