In Greece the father do medicine, Hippocrates, recommended using the bark of the willow tree as an analgesic. The active ingredient of this bark, called salicin, a bitter glycoside of salicylic alcohol, was first isolated by Leroux in 1827.
Charles Frederich von Gerhant in France and Karl Johann Kraut in Germany synthesized aspirin in 1853 and 1869 respectively. Charles Frederich had studied acetylating reactions and first produced aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) in 1853 by the treatment of sodium salicylate with acetyl chloride.
He also studied the alkaline hydrolysis of aspirin to acetic and salicylic acids and the reaction of the latter with silver oxide. Kolbe and Lautemann made synthetic salicylic acid from phenol in 1860.
In 1897, Felix Hoffman at Bayer prepared a more pure form of aspirin using an improved route.
After aspirin’s success in clinics, Heindrich Dreser discovered that aspirin is a pro-drug of salicylic acid. In 1949, Gibson described his successful use of aspirin in a small group do patients with vascular problems.
Around the same time, Lawrence Craven in California realized that his tonsillectomy patients who had take a chewable aspirin preparation for pain relief were more likely that other to bleed.
In 1971, John R. Vane at the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences of the University of London and the Royal College of Surgeon of England discovered that aspirin works by blocking cyclooxygenase, thus preventing the synthesis of prostaglandins.
History of aspirin
