Biochemistry 3380G Chapter Notes -Felix Hoffmann, Sodium Salicylate, Salicin
11 Oct 2014
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Salicin has been around for over 2400 years and ancient greek records show that greek physician hippocrates prescribed willow leaves for pain relief and to treat fevers in 400 bc. It was not until the 1700"s that scientists discovered it was what was in the willow tree that caused pain relief. Norton, england found the substance in the bark and leaves of the willow tree that had been previously used by hippocrates. In 1832, french chemist charles gerhardt mixed acetyl chloride with sodium salicylate to produce acetylsalicylic acid but soon gave up on it and set it aside since the procedure was difficult and took a lot of time. Sixty-five years later in 1897, german chemist felix hoffmann was searching for a relief medication for his father"s arthritis while working at bayer in germany. Hoffman discovered a method that was better than. Gerhardt"s method of synthesizing the drug and used it as a pain reliever for his father"s rheumatism.
