Chemistry
Mechanistic Steps in the Synthesis of Aspirin via Acetylation
Quick fact
Aspirin was first synthesized in 1897 by Felix Hoffmann, but the acetylation reaction was accidentally discovered by Charles Gerhardt in 1853. The acid catalyst is often phosphoric acid, but even a few drops of sulfuric acid work.
Why this is interesting
You take aspirin for a headache, but did you know it’s a chemically engineered molecule that doesn’t even exist in nature? The transformation from a bitter plant extract to one of the world’s most common drugs relies on a few elegant molecular steps.