Salicin Research Paper

willow tree bark used as early as 400 B.C. to relieve pain. It is also known as salicylic acid.

The first recorded usage of pharmaceuticals was by the Babylonians in Ancient times who developed their medicinal practices through

In this experiment the concentration of acetyl salicylic acid (ASA) in an aspirin tablet will be determined. This can be done by dissolving a tablet in a strong base, NaOH, and titration it with a strong acid, HCl. The quantity was found to be about 75.5% of the weight of the tablet, or about 318 mg per tablet. This value tells the pharmaceutical companies how much to state the recommended dosage as based on how much ASA is needed to feel the headache and pain resistant effects. Also it can be used to state precautions for the customers based on the known LD50 value (200 mg/kg).

Chemical medicine originates from medical alchemy of the medieval period. Its nature was controversial and the acceptance and practice of chemical medicine caused problems with those who had strong ties with Scholasticism that rooted them in the Galenic tradition and made them wary of new practices and innovations. The fact that chemical medicine became quite popular thanks to the sixteenth-century Swiss doctor Paracelsus only increased the controversial nature. Paracelsus was well-known for his “miraculous cures” as well as for rejecting the European medical organization (De Vos, 2007).

To begin, aspirin has many advantages for the body, as known today. College analysts, driven by Michael Garavito, Associate Professor in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, have found the exact synthetic system of aspirin stops agony and aggravation (Scotsman, 1995). The group 's finding, reported in the diary Nature/Structural Biology, implies

Other methods to reduce pain have been around for thousands of years. Hippocrates was the first man to advise people to chew on willow bark as a form of pain relief. However, it was not until 1763 that Edward Stone, an English clergyman, noticed that another property of willow bark was to reduce fever3. Almost one hundred years later in 1860, a compound called salicin was extracted from the willow bark and found to be the reason the bark could provide pain relief. This salicin was hydrolyzed to glucose and salicyl alcohol, which could then be oxidised to salicylic acid4. The bulk of salicylic acid is now produced using the Kolbe synthesis method which is a process that rearranges sodium phenyl carbonate. This chemical is obtained by heating dry sodium phenate under pressure with carbon dioxide, the sodium salt is then decomposed to the acid by dilute hydrochloric acid5 (see figure 1). Derivatives of salicylic

This report presents the synthesis of Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid), as the product of the reaction of salicylic acid with ethanoic anhydride under acidic conditions. Aspirin was purified through recrystallisation by vacuum filtration, followed by desiccation of the Aspirin crystal over silica gel. The percentage yield was calculated as 44.89% and a sample of Aspirin was analysed using infra-red spectroscopy and compared to the spectrum of pure Aspirin, this served as an introduction to the identification of functional groups in organic compounds. The melting point was calculated using an IA9000M apparatus and recorded to be 35.2°C, which was slightly below the melting point of pure Aspirin; known to be between 138-140°C. Both IR spectroscopy and melting point measurement were used verify the purity of synthetic Aspirin made, which proved to be fairly pure under these laboratory conditions.

In ancient times, illnesses were treated with plants from the earth. But as modern functional medicine became more developed and widespread, naturalistic remedies were considered useless. So it was fairly easy for the pharmaceutical industry to step in and start

One of the best examples of herbal remedy use in Western Medicine would be the use of Opium in pain treatment. Opium is made by drying the “tears,” or latex from a opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) bulb before becoming mature. By cutting the bulb, the latex seeps out, therefore producing a solution containing various substances, most notoriously, the 12% by volume of alkaloid morphine, which is used as a method of chronic pain treatment, as well as the production of heroine. It was originally used in the 16th century to induce sleep and relieve pain, and was introduced to western medicine by a man of the name Paracelsus. It was only after reading the Pseudo-Apuleius Herbarius book, a collection of herbs names and diseases, that he managed to

This experiment involved three steps: synthesis of aspirin, isolation and purification, and the estimation of purity of the final product. The synthesis involved the reaction of salicylic acid and acetic anhydride in the presence of a catalyst, phosphoric acid, H3PO4. When the aspirin was prepared, it was isolated and filtered. The percentage yield of the synthesis was calculated to be 78.42%. The experimental melting point range of aspirin was determined to be 122 -132°C. Due to its wide range, and lower value than that of the theoretical melting point of 136°C, it was

"In 1897, Felix Hoffmann created a new industry. He found a way of adding a cluster of two extra carbon and five extra hydrogen atoms to a substance extracted from willow bark. The result is known to chemists as acetylsalicylic acid. To everyone else it is known as aspirin. It turned Bayer, the dye-maker Hoffmann worked for, into the world's first modern drug company." Geoffrey Carr, The Alchemists, The Economist - Feb 19th 1998

When an aspirin is not just an aspirin any more. The name aspirin broke down to explain comes from a- (from the acetyl group) -spir- (from spiraea flower) and in- (a common ending for medicine back then). Aspirin is one of the most commonly used drug there is today. When it was discovered, it was not in the form we know today. Instead it was in the form of tree bark and leaves from a willow tree. Which was used as a pain and fever reliever. The aspirin we use today was discovered in 1897, by Felix Hoffman. He received his first patent on February 27, 1900. Aspirin comes without prescription around 1915 which is manufactured in a tablet form. Today over 70 million pounds of this drug is produced annually.

Salicylic acid (SA) is a Mono-hydroxy benzoic acid derived from the metabolism of Salicin, an alcoholic beta-glucoside known for its anti-inflammatory properties isolated from willow bark tree. Salicylic acid has well identified roles in plant growth, physiology and disease resistance.

Malaria is a life threatening disease that has been around for centuries. Throughout history, medicinal properties in plants have been used by many civilizations. Evidence of this has been documented in the China Academy of Chinese Medicinal Sciences in the Handbook for Prescriptions for Emergencies by Ge Hong written circa 284-346 CE (Tu, 2011). In this handbook there is a detailed explanation on how to prepare the qinghaosu as a medicinal remedy for malaria. It should come as no surprise that the plant Artemisia annua L. has medicinal qualities as many of the medications on the market today are plant based. Aspirin is derived from the bark of salix (willow), throat lozenges are derived from the leaves of mentha (mint), therefore it is no surprise that antimalarial medications are also plant based (Plant Medicines, 2006).

Salicylic acid completely inhibited the formation of sclerotia and the mycelial growth at 250 and500 ppm., respectively. Meanwhile, potassium silicates gave the same effect at 750 ppm.