Aspirin
Aspirina (ácido acetilsalicílico)
- Date
- 1897–1899 · confidence high
- Place
- Wuppertal (Elberfeld), Germany
- Credited to
- Felix Hoffmann and Arthur Eichengrün (Bayer, 1897); Charles Gerhardt (1853 synthesis)
- People
- 👤 Arthur Eichengrün1867–1949👤 Charles Gerhardt1863–1957👤 Felix Hoffmann1868–1946
- Field
- Life & health
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
First synthetic drug produced and marketed on an industrial scale, an analgesic and anti-inflammatory. It inaugurated the modern pharmaceutical industry.
Eichengrün claimed in 1949 to have led the project; Bayer's official version credits the synthesis to Hoffmann.
What it led to
- Pharmaceutical industry based on synthetic chemistry
- Registered-brand, globally consumed medicine
- Antiplatelet cardioprotection (late 20th century)
Built on
- Salicin from willow bark
- Organic chemistry of coal tar
- Dye industry
Made possible
- Discovery of ibuprofen1961
- Synthetic drugs
- Pharmaceutical marketing