Pethidine
Petidina
- Date
- 1938 · confidence high
- Place
- Wuppertal-Elberfeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
- Credited to
- Otto Eisleb; analgesic properties discovered by Otto Schaumann
- Field
- Life & health
What it is
Eisleb synthesized this compound at IG Farben's laboratories while searching for an anticholinergic agent; his colleague Otto Schaumann later discovered its potent analgesic effect. It became the prototype for an entire family of synthetic opioids and one of the most widely used analgesics of the 20th century, until safety concerns over its metabolite norpethidine limited its use.
The exact city of the IG Farben laboratory where it was synthesized is not precisely confirmed by the source consulted.
What it led to
- Family of derived analgesics (piminodine, anileridine, alphaprodine)
- Widespread use in obstetric and postoperative analgesia for decades
Built on
- Chemistry of anticholinergic compounds