Figure 1. The production of vitamin D3 from 7-dehydrocholesterol in the epidermis. Sunlight (the ultraviolet B component) breaks the B ring of the cholesterol structure to form pre- D3. Pre-D3 then undergoes a thermal induced rearrangement to form D3. Continued irradiation of pre- D3 leads to the reversible formation of lumisterol3 and tachysterol3 which can revert back to pre-D3 in the dark.