Fuel for thought: Five chemicals that changed history

Good or bad there’s no doubt the invention of gunpowder changed history. With bonfire night a whizz and a bang away, here are some chemicals from the pharmaceutical world that also changed history

Natural assets

Commonly used for pain relief, aspirin was developed in Germany by Felix Hoffman, a Bayer employee. Acetyl salicylic acid is the active ingredient in aspirin and is a synthetic derivative of a compound, salicin which is a naturally occurring substance in plants. Hoffmann developed the process of synthesising the acetyl salicylic acid which we now know as aspirin.

Breaking the mould

The world’s first antibiotic, penicillin marks a turning point in history. Discovered by Dr Alexander Fleming, it’s said that he returned to work at St Mary’s Hospital to find the substance lurking in one of his petri dishes.

Brain power

Better known as Prozac, Fluoxetine is actually a synthetic compound that inhibits the uptake of serotonin in the brain and is taken to treat depression. Approved by the FDA in 1987, a year later nearly 3 million prescriptions for the drug had been written by US doctors.

On the up

Viagria needs no introduction. When this drug first came onto the market in the 1990s, $1 billion in sales were achieved in the first year alone.

Swinging 60s

Originally approved by the FDA as a menstrual disorder treatment, the value in the pill Envoid as an oral contraceptive soon became apparent. By the end of the 1960s it’s estimated that $150 million-worth of sales of this and other versions of the drug had been made.