Aspirin

Affie Otunla

What is Aspirin

This is

The history of aspirin

400 B.C-Hippocrates suggests a concotion made from the leaves of the willow tree to ease pain of certain eye diseases and of childbirth. The bible-Leviticus Boughs of goodly trees,willows of the brook 100 A.D-Dioscorides, a greek doctor, reccommends, The leaves of the willow being beaten small and drank with a little pepper and wine does help such as are troubled with the illiaca passio and gout In 1633, an augustian monk named calantha living in peru described how bark from this fever tree, made into poweder and given as a beverahe cured high fevers. The jesuits began importing this tree bark back to europe where it became known as jesuit bark. The active principle was isolated years later, and it was found to be quinine.

Quinine and aspirin

The discovery of quinine was key to the creation of aspirin, as at the time it was a common ingredient in gin and tonic. After a few gin and tonics, a reverend recognised a similarity in the bitterness of the cinchona bark and the quinine as he randomly decided to lick some of the bark. In 1763, the reverend made an extraction from the wllow bark and administered it to 50 people. The 50 people who received it all noticed a reduction in their fevers, and he presented this to the president of the royal society in 1763.

A few years later

1828 Johann Buchner, professor of pharmacy at the University of Munich, isolated a tiny amount of bitter tasting yellow, needle-like crystals, which he called salicin. 1831 Johann Pagenstecher, a pharmacist from Berne, had obtained salicylaldehyde by distilling the flowers of meadowsweet, and sent it to a German chemist, Karl Lowig. 1835 Lowig oxidized it to an acid that he called spirsaure - later proved to be identical to salicylic acid. Two sources of salicylic acid (meadowsweet and willow bark) were cultivated to keep up with the demand from those patients seeking relief of their fever and pain, but they had horrendous side effects. 1853 French Chemist, Charles Frederich Gerhardt combined sodium salicylate and acetyl chloride to get an entirely new compound acetylsalicylic acid (ASA).

Hoffman
Hoffman was Born in Ludwigsburg, Germany in 1868, started his career as a dispensing chemist after leaving school, fascinated, he decided to study pharmacy and chemistry in Munich. 1897 August 10th first sample prepared by Hoffman A- Acetylation, SPIR Spiraea ulmaria (meadowsweet), IN thats what they were ending drug names with in those days. 1899 Bayer releases acetyl-salicylic acid in a powder form for medicinal purposes, credits Hoffman with the discovery, patent approved. Aspirin is produced.

How does it work?

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