A compound containing elemental iron as the sodium salt of a ferric ion carbohydrate complex in an alkaline aqueous solution with approximately 20% sucrose w/v in water for injection, used to replete the total body content of iron. Iron is critical for normal hemoglobin and myoglobin syntheses to maintain oxygen transport and various enzymatic processes, including the biosynthesis of deoxyribonucleotides catalyzed by ribonucleotide reductase (RNR).