- Anton Köllisch
Anton Köllisch (1888-1916) was the German chemist who, whilst working at
Darmstadt for pharmaceutical giant Merck, first synthesized the chemicalMDMA that would later come to be known as "ecstasy".A patent was filed for the drug on
Christmas Eve 1912, and was granted onJune 16 ,1914 . Köllisch, however, died as a soldier inWorld War I in September 1916 with no idea of the impact his synthesis would have.References
* Benzenhöfer, U. and Passie, T. (2006). The early history of Ecstasy. Nervenarzt 77, 95-99. (German) PMID 16397805.
* Adam, David. " [http://www.guardian.co.uk/drugs/Story/0,,1852855,00.html Truth about ecstacy's unlikely trip from lab to dance floor] : Pharmaceutical company unravels drug's chequered past",Guardian Unlimited , 2006-08-18.
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