First, let’s start with the question – how is Aspirin made? Aspirin belongs to the compound known as the salicylic acid, and salicylic acid is found in a wide range of plants including potatoes, tobacco, unripe fruits, blueberries, blackberries, kiwi, green pepper, mushrooms, cantaloupe, and tomatoes in varying degrees. So this was all about how is Aspirin made? Let’s dig deeper!
Salicylic acid is a phenolic compound that, when combined with cytokinins, auxins, and gibberellins, plays a significant role in plant growth and development. The mixture also helps plants deal with natural stresses such as sudden cold, drought, salinity, poor diet, heat, and even heavy metals. When there is a high temperature, salicylic acid in some of the plants will induce gene expressions to encode chaperone.
Salicylic Acid – Plant Defender
In some plants, salicylic acid helps them resist pathogens when a microbe attacks the plants. The acid levels in these plants’ infected areas increase, which allows plants to fight the invader.
In 1763, the salicylic acid was first isolated by Edward Stone, and after 100 years, Charles Frederic Gerhardt was the first person to turn it into Aspirin. This Aspirin was commonly known as acetylsalicylic acid. He did this by mixing sodium salicylate and acetyl chloride. This may be the answer to your question – how Aspirin is made and who made it for the first time?
In 1897, Bayer chemists produced their own synthesized version of salicylic acid. This version of salicylic acid designed to be less upsetting to the stomach than the previous version of salicylic acid. This version of salicylic acid was derived from Spirarea a ulmaria and was called salicin. This designer, salicylic acid, was named Aspirin by Bayer. Bayer named this acid Aspirin after the plant’s name as well as spirsaure.
So this was all about the functions that natural Aspirin serves in plants. We hope you got an answer to your question – how is Aspirin made?
