Gustav Ehrhart

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Gustav Ehrhart (born December 21, 1894 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein , † December 11, 1971 in Mainz ) was a German chemist . Together with Max Bockmühl he was the first to synthesize the opioid analgesic methadone .

Career

Ehrhart studied chemistry in Heidelberg with a focus on organic chemistry . His studies were interrupted by the First World War, in which he participated as an artillery officer. After the end of the war he resumed his studies and was awarded a Dr. phil. PhD . One of his professors was Theodor Curtius . Ehrhart received the Victor Meyer Prize for his dissertation. In 1923 he went to Farbwerke Hoechst AG . Two years later he became the deputy of Max Bockmühl, who was head of the company's pharmaceutical and scientific laboratory. After the Second World War , in 1949, he succeeded Bockmühl as head of the entire pharmaceutical research department at Hoechst AG. In 1951 he became a deputy member of the board of directors and two years later a full board member of Hoechst AG. During his time on the board of directors of Hoechst AG and after leaving the company in 1961, Ehrhart had a laboratory that he looked after personally.

Honors

Ehrhart was an honorary doctor from the Universities of Graz Mainz , Frankfurt , Stuttgart and Giessen . In 1952 Ehrhart was presented with the Adolf von Baeyer Memorial Medal and in 1970 he was awarded the Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany .

plant

Ehrhart's main focus was the development of new analgesics (pain relievers). The development of methadone, which Ehrhart first synthesized together with his boss Bockmühl in 1939, is outstanding.

In the winter of 1937/38, Erhart and Bockmühl began to synthesize over 300 compounds with diphenylmethane as a central structural element . At the end of 1939 they received the compound (±) -6-dimethylamino-4,4-diphenylheptan-3-one which was given the development code VA 10820. In the first animal experiments, Ehrhart and Bockmühl found that VA 10820 has a five to ten times stronger analgesic effect than pethidine. VA 10820 was then given the generic name Amidon in mid-1941 . Bockmühl and Ehrhart applied for a patent for the entire class of materials as early as September 11, 1938. Due to the turmoil of World War II , Amidon was no longer clinically tested. As part of the patent and regulatory expropriation of IG Farben, VA 10820 came to the United States. 1947 received VA 10820 the generic name methadone or in the US Methadone . In the same year Eli Lilly launched the product under the brand name Dolophine . In January 1949, after the dissolution of IG Farben, Hoechst AG with research director Ehrhart was able to bring methadone to the market under the brand name Polamidon as a strong pain reliever .

Publications (selection)

  • with Heinrich Ruschig (Ed.): Medicines. Development, effect, presentation , 2 volumes, Verlag Chemie, Weinheim 1968;
  • H. Alpermann, G. Ehrhart: Medicines: Development, Effect, Presentation. Volume 1, Verlag Chemie, 1973, ISBN 3-527-25375-0 .
  • E. Bäumler, G. Ehrhart, V. Muthesius: A century of chemistry. Econ Verlag, 1963.

further reading

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c R. J. Defalque, AJ Wright: The early history of methadone. Myths and facts. In: Bulletin of Anesthesia History. Volume 25, Number 3, October 2007, pp. 13-16, ISSN  1522-8649 . doi : 10.1016 / S1522-8649 (07) 50035-1 . PMID 20506765 .
  2. ↑ Prof. Dr. phil. Dr. Dr. hc Gustav Ehrhart was 75 years old. In: The practical veterinarian. Volume 51, 1970, p. 64.
  3. ^ W. Bartmann: Between tradition and progress. From the history of the pharmaceutical divisions of Bayer, Hoechst and Schering from 1935–1975. (PDF; 2.3 MB) Dissertation, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, 2001, p. 245.
  4. ^ Austrian honorary doctorate for Professor Ehrhart. In: The practical veterinarian. Volume 51, 1970, p. 390.
  5. ↑ Great Cross of Merit for Prof. Dr. Dr. hc Gustav Ehrhart. In: The practical veterinarian. Volume 51, 1970, p. 258.
  6. ↑ G. Ehrhart, O. Schaumann: Polamidon, a new, strong analgesic. In: Med monthly. Volume 3, 1949, pp. 605-606.
  7. ↑ M. Bockmühl, G. Ehrhart: About a new class of spasmolytic and analgesic compounds (I). In: Liebig Ann Chem. Volume 561, 1949, pp. 52-85.
  8. ↑ M. Bockmühl, G. Ehrhart: Process for the preparation of basic esters. German Reich patent No. 711069, filing date: September 11, 1938, publication: September 25, 1941.
  9. ↑ PO Wolff: On pethidine and methadone derivatives. In: Bulletin of the World Health Organization. Volume 2, Number 2, 1949, pp. 193-204, ISSN  1564-0604 . PMID 15409516 . PMC 2553950 (free full text).
  10. ^ EM Stoya: M for methadone. ( Memento from September 9, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) In: The PTA IN DER APOTHEKE. 11, 2011, p. 20.
personal data
SURNAME Ehrhart, Gustav
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German chemist
DATE OF BIRTH December 21, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH Ludwigshafen am Rhein
DATE OF DEATH December 11, 1971
Place of death Mainz