The long (and wild) history of aspirin.

It’s still early on the first day of a new year! Some listeners may be suffering from a headache. You just might want to “make like a beaver” and chew a willow twig for this morning’s international chemistry lesson!

The active ingredient in aspirin – salicylate – is derived from compounds found in the bark of plants in the willow family. Ancient physician Hippocrates wrote of pain relief treatments including a powder made from willow bark to treat headaches, pain and fevers.

By 1828, the active ingredient in willow was discovered by German chemist, Johann Buchner who isolated bitter-tasting, yellow, needle-like crystals, he called “salicin.” In 1829, Frenchman, Henri Leroux developed an extraction process to obtain salicin in crystalline form for the first time. Then, Italian, Raffaele Piria succeeded in creating an acid of crystallized colorless needles, he named “salicylic acid” the active ingredient in all modern-day Aspirin!

In 1899, Felix Hoffmann, working for the German chemical company Friedrich Bayer & Company added an "acetyl" group over an acid to create the “acetyl-salicylic acid” most effective for reducing fever, pain and swelling.

The "Spir" in “As-spir-in” is from Spiraea, a plant in the rose family that also produces salicylic acid. After Germany lost World War I, Bayer was forced to surrender their trademark as part of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. I’m sure that news caused some headaches! Today, 80 billion aspirin tablets are sold annually – and I’m pretty sure tens of thousands will be consumed today. Happy New Year!