An Interactive Annotated World Bibliography of Printed and Digital Works in the History of Medicine and the Life Sciences from Circa 2000 BCE to 2022 by Fielding H. Garrison (1870-1935), Leslie T. Morton (1907-2004), and Jeremy M. Norman (1945- ) Traditionally Known as “Garrison-Morton”

16031 entries, 14098 authors and 1944 subjects. Updated: October 9, 2024

WRIGHT, Charles Romley Alder

1 entries
  • 11087

On the action of organic acids and their anydrides on the natural alkaloïds. Part I.

J. chem. Soc., 27, 1031-1043, 1874.

In quest of a non-addictive alternative to morphine, Wright experimented with combining morphine with various acids. He boiled anhydrous morphine alkaloid with acetic anhydride over a stove for several hours and produced a more potent, acetylated form of morphine, now called diamorphine (or diacetylmorphine), also known as heroin. After Wright's death, Heinrich Dreser, a chemist at Bayer Laboratories, continued to test heroin. Bayer marketed it as an analgesic[3] and 'sedative for coughs' in 1898. When its addictive potential was recognized, Bayer ceased its production in 1913. (Wikipedia article Charles Romley Alder Wright).

Digital facsimile from the Hathi Trust at this link.



Subjects: PHARMACOLOGY › PHARMACEUTICALS › Botanic Sources of Single Component Drugs › Opium › Morphine › Heroin